Colors of Fate
by Eige-chan
Summary: Chihiro mets a true friend. Kohaku enters the human world. Everything was fine until fate strikes, sending the trio to a life-threatening adventure. Lost memories, unravled pasts, forgotten connections, ancient laws... That's way too much to deal with.R
1. Fate Departs

Eige-chan: Hihi~! Well, everyone, this is my... second fanfic! And, if you have read my first one, you would know that I had been "retired" for quite a while, and now I'm back again!!! Haku! You can do the disclaimer!

Haku: Yes... Umm... the author does not own spirited away or it's characters... but the plot and the original characters are all hers...

Eige-chan: Hmm... something wrong with you, Haku? -stares-

Haku: -fiddles and squirms- N-Nothing...

Kamajii: The boy gets shy appearing on spotlight eeh...?

Eige-chan: Ooh... unexpected of you, Haku! You seem so calm and rational in the movie. Anyways~ Here goes!!!

* * *

**Chapter One: Fate Departs**

"Will we meet again?"

"Of course we will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She was his first friend, his best friend; the person he cares about the most. He saved her life, and she did the same for him, but he couldn't guarantee that they would meet again without lying. It was sort of a half-truth, a compromise. He bit his lip slightly as he guided her to the stone steps.

"Go and don't look back..."

He smiled weakly as the girl walked away from him, back to her parents, her normal life where she's supposed to be. By not turning back, her memories of being here would be locked away, buried deep inside of her heart, and he hated that that would happen. But what is he to fight the long, ancient laws of the spirit world? Besides, even if the girl's memories weren't present in her mind when he finds her, he was partially confident that he would be able to bring them back. Regaining a slight bit of confidence, he watched her enter the tunnel, not paying attention to her parents that were with her. Eventually, time did her job, and the tiniest bit trace of the girl was gone. Taking one last glance at the darkness that engulfed the human girl, he turned away, walking down the path to the bathhouse.

"Farewell Chihiro, for now."

* * *

Chihiro stared at the brick red building she had just walked out of. Nothing seems to come to mind of what had happened. She couldn't remember. Chihiro looked at the darkness of the tunnel-like entrance. The deeper she looked at it, the emptier her mind was getting. She felt renewed. Chihiro no longer felt like whatever she was before. She felt a strange, vibe of newly-gained wisdom in her small, ten year old brain. If only she knew what was making her feel this way.

"Chihiro! Hurry up!" her mother shouted.

Snapping back to reality, Chihiro joined her parents in their small, dusty, blue four-wheeled vehicle, and gradually left the area.

* * *

"What did you say?" Yubaba was practically glaring at the young boy as he informed her of the 'good news'

"I would not be working for you as your apprentice anymore," Haku was firm with his language. His way of telling it had almost infuriated the old hag, but Yubaba decided to calm. For now, at least.

"Keep dreamin' boy," Yubaba laughed at Haku and continued with her paperwork. "You signed a contract with me, and it hasn't worn off yet."

Just as Haku predicted. He would tell her, she would take it as a joke and laugh her head off, and then he'll drop the bomb.

"I have my name," Haku said, not breaking eye contact with his boss. The moment those words shot out of his mouth, Yubaba rose up her oversized head and stared at the boy with her enormous eye-balls. She would have taken it as a joke again, but considering that fact that Haku's face was still and deadly serious, she knew it was the truth. But , just to make sure.

"And what is that? I may ask?" Yubaba was trying her best to lie to herself that this wasn't happening. Not to her most _loyal _dragon boy that she brought up with her own hands. Without him, stealing treasures and other 'valuable' objects would be pretty difficult. This would, of course, affect the business and income of the bathhouse.

Haku knew exactly what Yubaba was thinking. How could she let him go that easily? He was probably the main source of income in the bathhouse; all the herbs and food that they prepared for the guests were worth way much more that what the guests were paying them. But he wasn't afraid, Yubaba was sure a mean, greedy hag, but she wasn't anything close to evil. He was sure that she wouldn't cause him any threat, up to this point.

"Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi."

The gasp Yubaba made while she gaped at the young boy was heard, followed by a large popping noise of paper.

* * *

Moving wasn't Chihiro's idea of fun at all, it involves a lot of goodbyes with her friends, sorting out of objects that she didn't knew existed in her family property, and the worst, getting used to the new environment. Getting up this early in the morning felt terrible already, let alone having to go to school.

Chihiro groaned as she turned off her alarm clock. Standing up, she took her new uniform that was hanging on the hanger on the back of her door, and changed into it.

She felt extremely uncomfortable in it.

Chihiro's brows fixed themselves into a frown as she looked at the mirror; a black and white blouse with a plaid skirt of the same color. The skirt was about a couple of centimeters above her knee, and she was even required to wear white knee-length socks with black school shoes.

Definitely not her favorite outfit.

Her former school didn't even have a uniform. Well, the only thing that resembled one was probably the sports wear that they wore at, well, sports class.

But, there was no use whining anyway. She was here and she couldn't go back. Sighing, Chihiro took a glimmering purple hair band from her bedside table and tied her hair with it. She had no idea of where it came from, or why it was there, but she used it anyways, considering that it was one of the prettiest things she owned.

"Chihiro!" her mother called from the first floor, "You're going to be late for school and you haven't had breakfast yet!"

"Coming!" Chihiro yelled back. Grabbing her bag, she hurried down the stairs, praying that this first-day-of-school would go well.

………………

Chihiro didn't feel well. She never liked standing in front of a crowd and speaking. Especially when the crowd was full of people that she didn't know and had never met in her life. But then again, she was the 'new student' and introducing herself in front of the class was required. Chihiro winced slightly at the squeaky sound the teacher was making with the chalk and blackboard was she wrote her name on it.

_Ogino_ _Chihiro _was written neat and tidy in kanji on the board.

"Ogino-san, would you please?" the teacher said, suggesting that Chihiro better start her introduction now.

"Umm…" Chihiro fiddled in her uniform as she spoke, "Hello… everyone, I'm Chihiro, and I've just moved here…" she looked at the class. No movement. "I hope that I can make new friends here…. Thank you...?"

Chihiro looked up to her teacher and the teacher looked at the students. They seem to get the message and gave Chihiro a small applause. Sighing in relief, Chihiro was more than joyous that it was over, now the teacher can just address her to some seat in the corner and she could just go there and be invisible.

"Ogino-san, you will sit…" the teacher looked across the room for spare seats. "Right there." she pointed at the seat far across in the right, closest to the overly-large sized windows of the classroom. Glad to get off the spotlight, Chihiro quickly scurried to her respective seat, hung her bag on the hook attached to the left side of her table, and sat down quietly.

"We have another new student this year" the teacher said, erasing Chihiro's name off the board and making a tick on her clipboard.

"You may come in now."

* * *

Eige-chan: Whoo!! End of chapter one! Hehe, not that bad, eeh?

Chihiro: -grins- I wonder who is the other new student?

Yubaba: Humph! Must be another one of those disgusting humans...

Eige-chan: Now, now, don't be so mean...Ooh, and speaking of the new student! If anyone can guess who it is, they shall be offered with a gigantic cookie the size of Yubaba's head!

Yubaba: ... Is that supposed to be an insult?

Eige-chan: -ignores Yubaba- Pleeeeeeeeeease read and review!!!!!


	2. Fate Encounters

Eige-Chan: Hi guys!! Chapter Two is up! (I don't own Spirited away)

Nobody: ......

Eige-Chan: Eeh..? Where did everyone go? Huh, well, it doesn't matter~ Anyways, since nobody guessed who the student was... (boohoo....) I'LL EAT THE COOKIE MYSELF!!! -sobs while crunching on enormous cookie-

Eige-Chan: By the way, I wanna thank the only reviewer that was kind enough to read my story~ **XxCrazyXGirlxX **Now, on with the story!!!

* * *

**Chapter Two: Fate Encounters**

Chihiro stared in amazement. Pass the sliding door stood an incredibly intriguing person, probably one of the most interesting person she had ever seen. She walked into the classroom and onto the stage. Chihiro then took a closer look at her.

The girl stood on the stage, facing the class. There wasn't fear in her eyes. She had a small smile hanging across her pale pink lips, just below her big emerald green orbs.

The unusual part of the girl was her hair. Her hair was the color of black, but occasionally when the sun's rays stray across her head, a slight color of forest green could be seen. A row of straight bangs framed her face neatly while the her back was covered by it's long length. A length too long for a girl her size, to be said truthfully.

Her skin was a mixture of both creamy and pale, she was, physically, about the same size as Chihiro; small and petite, and about the same age; no older than eleven. Chihiro diverted her eyes to the blackboard where the girl's name was written.

_Kawazoe Kazusa_.

'What a pretty name' Chihiro thought, 'sounds like a god.' She froze for a second. Why does that line sound so familiar?

"Hello everyone," Kazusa said, smiling slightly "My name is Kawazoe Kazusa, and it is very nice to meet you." She smiled at the class, getting a few whispers and giggles from the students below the stage "I hope that we could all get along soon!"

The students applauded after she finished her introduction. They were smiling at her. The teacher was smiling at her. Chihiro couldn't help but smile too. It seems like her happiness was contagious.

"Yes, welcome to the class Kawazoe-san," the teacher said, making a tick on her clipboard, "Now… you will sit…"

Chihiro looked at the teacher with intense eyes. After hearing her soothing voice, Chihiro started to be interested in the girl even more than when she saw what Kazusa looked like. She hoped that Kazusa could be seated beside her. She just seemed like a person you would want to know, a person that you would want to befriend. But, apparently, half of the class had the same thought in mind, and it was up to luck that Chihiro would get the opportunity to meet her.

Roaming her eyes across the room, Kazusa gave every person a nod in acknowledgment, and when she passed Chihiro's glance, she stopped. Kazusa flashed her a big smile which took Chihiro by surprise.

"There," the teacher finally said. Chihiro stared the teacher's finger; she wondered where she was pointing. "Beside Ogino-san."

Small sighs and moans of disappointment were heard throughout the classroom. Some other person's chance of sitting with her just got destroyed. On the other hand, Chihiro was delighted; and she grinned silently to show it. This was her chance to make her first friend in the new school she was in. Kazusa was also seemly glad of the teacher's decisions. Stepping off the stage and walking to her assigned seat, Kazusa gently slid into the wooden chair beside Chihiro's table.

"Hello, you are… Ogino-san?" Kazusa said as she hung her bag on the hook beside her desk.

"Yeah…" Chihiro smiled at the girl beside her "Y-You can call me Chihiro." She stuttered a bit as she spoke, the shyness inside her escaping from her actions.

"Chihiro-chan… ?" Kazusa looked at the brunette, "Well then, you can call me Kazusa, too!" She grinned happily in the direction of the windows.

Both girls smiled at each other gratefully, they had accomplished the hardest mission a new student could possibly get; meeting new friends. Further more, they were happy, not only because that they helped each other accomplish their 'mission'. It was also because that they truly saw that they would be great friends, true friends, friends for life. They felt it within them, that they were destined to meet each other, that their meeting each other wasn't just a coincidence, and that it was something that was decided a long time ago.

* * *

Haku, or should I say Kohaku, rushed down the stairs of the bathhouse with something between and smile and smirk glued to his face. The workers of the bathhouse stared in a mixture suspicion and amazement; since they had never seen any expression on Kohaku's face except for sharp glares or annoyed stares.

Kohaku is now officially free. Free of Yubaba's control, free of to do whatever that pleased him, which will of course include storming into the human world. It had been years since he felt so loose, uncontrolled, and comfortable with himself.

While quick-walking out of one of the elevators in the building, he accidentally ran into one of the employees in the bathhouse. The employee that first brought Chihiro to Yubaba; Lin. They fell on their behinds, while the wooden bath-basket that Lin was carrying, including all the contents such as brushes, shampoos, and towels, flew in all directions.

"Hey, what the..!" Lin shouted angrily as she stood up and collected the scattered items, "Watch where you're going you idio-" She stopped as she looked at exactly _who_ she ran into. Lin's eyebrows twitched in confusion.

'Yubaba's apprentice… Haku… ' she thought, watching the boy get up from his current position, '…. Ran into me?'

"Ahh…" Kohaku stood up slowly, rubbing the back of his head in the meantime. "I sincerely apologize for my uncarefu-…."His voice trailed off as he saw who he was talking to. Lin. Chihiro's best friend, to him, that is. "Lin..."

"Hn.." Lin wasn't sure what she would say to Haku, she didn't even know him that much. Well, Chihiro did talk about him frequently when she was here, all about where he was, how nice he is and all that. Lin, however, had always thought he was Yubaba's evil sidekick-kind-of person that steals treasures for her. Seeing him with that abnormal look on his usually-cold face was…. something between uncomfortable and awkward

"Haku…-sama…." The word 'sama' sounded like a hairball stuck between Lin's throat, it couldn't get out.

"What… are you doing here in the low classed section..?" she asked him slowly, twisting her eyebrows as she did so.

The bathhouse was divided into three classes, low class, middle class, and high class. Low class is where the normal, everyday bathhouse workers stay and does their… whatever they had to do. Middle class is where the customers of the bathhouse stay, and where the bathtubs and tea-rooms are. High class is where people like Yubaba and Kohaku, where the people who are considered as '_noble' _stay and live. Lin knew that Kohaku would rarely come to the low class section without a good reason. It was simply…. a common sense that the people of the bathhouse had.

Kohaku looked at Lin with slight amusement. She had called him 'Haku'. Of course, that's what all the people called him, and he was still used to the name. However, finding after his real name, he now had to get used to the term 'Kohaku'.

"My name isn't Haku, it's Kohaku," he told the taller female, earning a questioning look on her face. "My reason of being here is because that I am free," he smiled… no, it was more like a smirk. "I can go wherever I want to." And with that, he continued to hurry towards the exit of the bathhouse, leaving Lin in a confused status.

..................

As Kohaku passed through the boiler room, he had a conversation with Kamajii that was similar to the one he had with Lin. But he had a more elaborate explanation for the old man. Kamajii had wished him good luck, and asked for him to say hi to Chihiro for him. However, Kohaku wasn't even sure that he could pass through worlds that easily, for he was a 'spirit'. And, even if he could, Chihiro wouldn't remember anyone of them. Not Yubaba, not Lin, not Kamajii, and not himself. He winced at the thought of it as he ran across the bridge, to the place where he had sent away his most treasured friend.

He stopped as he reached the stone steps. Gazing across the green meadows and fields, he gently closed his eyes and let the breeze blow across his face. He thought of the times that passed in the bathhouse, and his lips curled up sightly. No matter how cruel the bathhouse was, it was still his home. It had accepted him when his river was destroyed, when he was wondering aimlessly. Kohaku let out a sigh as he realized that he is now, practically homeless. Although a better and more positive way of saying that is that he was free, of course.

He turned and looked at the bathhouse, made a slight bow in sign of gratitude for all these years of acceptance. Then, without a second thought, he turned back to the direction of the tunnel, and left the area of the bathhouse.

..................

Yubaba turned back from the opened windows where she was watching his former-apprentice. She pulled close the windows and curtains and sat down on her chair, staring at the blazing fire-place before her.

She sneered, remembering the little bow that Kohaku made. That youngster actually knew his manners well enough to appreciate the years of care the bathhouse had offered him. But as Yubaba watched the boy's eager movements to get out of this place as quickly as he could, she knew that she couldn't chain him in… and that she even if she once did, she never will again.

She let out a slight smile, and for a moment there, she almost felt just like Zeniba.

* * *

Eige-Chan: YEAY~!! Chapter two is finished!!

Kazusa: Hehe, I'm introduced in this chapter! Pleasure to meet all the readers! -bow-

Eige-Chan: Haha, I hope I did a good job on this chapter!

Kazusa: -smiles- Aww... Eige-chan did great!

Eige-Chan: Haha... thanks, Kazusa... OOH! and I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that I can get... 2 or 3 reviews for this Chapter... Well, reviews always make people feel great... So, readers! Please be generous!! -bow bow bow -


	3. Fate Understands

Eige-Chan: THIRD CHAPTER!!! (I don't own Spirited Away)

Chihiro & Kazusa: Yeay, Yeay!!

Eige-Chan: Haha, sorry for not updating for a long time... I had my quarter exams this week so, I WASN'T ABLE TO GET NEAR THE COMPUTER!!!!

Zeniba: Ah, poor girl. The last time you told me your computer means much to you like your life.

Yubaba:... the computer is her life? -sneers-

Eige-Chan: -ignores- Yes! And, thanks alot to the reviewers for the last chapter **Illarix** and **ColurfulStar**!

* * *

**Chapter Three: Fate Understands**

Kohaku breathed heavily as he slumped on a strangely-shaped, large-sized rock near the tunnel where Chihiro had left just three days ago. He panted heavily as sweat flowed out from his fair skin. The boy raised up his hand, wiping the liquid off his face with his white, heavy work-shirt's sleeve. He glanced up with his almond eyes, eying the shadowed portal to the human world.

FLASHBACK; THREE DAYS AGO

Kohaku eagerly ran in the direction to the mouth of the red-brick building. With slim hope of catching up with Chihiro before she drives off too far away from the tunnel entrance, he whizzed through the meadows and fields hurriedly. His steady breath continued as he gradually caught view of the shadowed half-circle; the tunnel.

'Finally,' Kohaku thought as he continued to run to the tunnel, 'I'm free to go'

Sure it wasn't newsflash to him now that he is actually free. But until today he hadn't dare to think that one day he would actually have freedom to do whatever that pleased him. Thinking about such things made him grin mentally, even now.

'Freedom…huh,' Kohaku continued to ponder. Now that he actually had the time to think about it, he wasn't really sure of what his objective is at the moment. Find Chihiro? What about afterwards? A small frown appeared on his face. He really does have an ice thin glow of attitude towards his future. He wasn't even sure of what was he going to do in his life later on.

Kohaku's footsteps slowed down as he reached the brick red building's hollow entrance. Staring down into the airy tunnel, several pieces of crippled leaves flew past his feet. He could almost hear the strong wind yowling at him.

Stiffly, the boy reached out and tried reaching into the windy space. His fingertips slowly moved forward, as if expecting to touch something in this mid-air. Surely, his hypothesis was correct. He did feel a smooth surface blocking him from physical contact with the air further into the tunnel. But that feeling of solidness was also accompanied with a small, almost electrical shock.

Kohaku quickly withdraw his fingers from the surface. Although he had never been this far near a human-world portal, he had read about it in several books. As stated in all of them, there was a barrier blocking spirits from entering the other world.

END FLASHBACK

Kohaku gave the barrier a look from the uncomfortable rock where he was sitting. The action would of course, be no use other than self-comfort. For the barrier had no life, and thus would have no reaction whatsoever.

Kohaku had tried almost everything he had learned on this thing. And that includes even the most tiresome, troublesome, bothersome ones that he wouldn't normally use since it could drain so much energy from his spirit. He continued to catch his breath, hoping to soon be able to continue with the overflowing amount of magical powers he was and will going to use on this barrier.

Exhaling and inhaling, he looked up at the dark blue sky. The moon was hung up high throughout the scattered stars that varied in color and size as clouds of white overlapped with the beautiful scene. Kohaku looked back down to the grass-covered floor. He remaining in such a position for a few minutes or so to continue with his work. And just as he was about to step up again and resume his battle with the barrier, an ideal clicked off in his mind.

Kohaku thought about it thoroughly.

Although it might not be the best choice of person to ask a favor from, since he have had an issue with her once; as the stealing dragon working for Yubaba. But Kohaku had already filtered the possible selection of people and she seemed like the most practical and most possible choice.

Finishing off his thoughts, the boy got up from his sitting position and hurried away, in the direction of the train station.

* * *

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!!!!

The school bell rang violently as the end of the lesson approached. Today was the third day Chihiro had spent in her new school since she transferred there. It was also the end of the last lesson of the day. Fortunately, everyone was quite nice towards her and she had made an amount of fine friends. Kazusa had also become very good friends with Chihiro since the first day of school. They found their personalities quite matching and were together everywhere.

Chihiro did have best friends at her old school, and they were also very nice and kind. But none of them had resembled someone like Kazusa. She always had this smile on her face, and had a look that felt welcoming to anyone. But something in her always tells you that this is not just it.

_Just how she acts is not everything._

Something was strange. Chihiro couldn't tell what was, but something was just strange. Not that Chihiro disliked her in anyway, no. She liked her very much as a wonderful friend.

Chihiro sighed as she started to pack up the assigned books that her teachers had asked her class to read and study. This school's academic expectations were a lot tougher than her old school. Back there were never more than four assignments each day for the students to do at home. And now at this school, there were never _less _than four assignments; usually there were six or seven. Chihiro sighed again as she thought about her 1500 worded report that was due the day after tomorrow.

"Chihiro-chan~ Today I have to go first, okay?" Chihiro turned to the girl beside her, with her bag packed and ready to go. "I have… a little business at home," she smiled lightly.

Chihiro grinned at her best friend and said, "Sure, I'll see you tomorrow!" From the first day, when the two girls had first meet, Kazusa and Chihiro had started to walk home together. Kazusa would always see her best friend off to her home, and then she would go home herself. Chihiro had wondered what Kazusa house looked like, since she herself was always the first stop on their way home.

"Bye!" Kazusa called to Chihiro as she waved at her from their classroom's door. "See you tomorrow!"

..................

It was six o'clock in the evening.

Chihiro held her pencil between her upper lip and her nose as she stared at the flickering lamp post placed on her desk and her unfinished report.

'This isn't going get me anywhere with this…' She thought, diverting her gaze to the single window in her room. She then jumped off her chair, grabbed a coat from her door hanger, and left her room.

"Chihiro," her father called as he saw Chihiro walking down the stairs and putting on her shoes, "Where are you going? Dinner is almost ready!"

"I'm going to... observe the stars!" Chihiro replied _-lied-_ as she fitted her left shoe. "Homework for school."

Chihiro barely listened to her father's reasoning on how she wouldn't be able to see the stars with her eye, and that she needed a telescope. The bulky man then rushed upstairs, claiming that he was going to get his star-gazing equipment for some so called 'father-to-daughter bonding time'.

Chihiro left the house quietly, slightly embarrassed by her father's reaction.

..................

Chihiro walked quietly along the street. She shut her eyes as a strong gust of wind blew across her.

'This...' she thought about the gust of wind as she felt something familiar within her. Ever since she had moved here to this town, she had always felt weird very time when certain things happen. She didn't know why, and so most of the time she was rather spaced-out.

'Eh…' Chihiro thought as she arrived _there. _'Isn't this….' Chihiro had unknowingly walked to the place where it started. _The_ place where it started. It was the entrance to the 'short cut' that her father drove into. It was the entrance to the red building. The red building that she came out of three days ago, remembering nothing.

Chihiro stared at the small, stony things that are said to be 'houses' of the spirits and the car tracks on the muddy land. She had a strange desire to go in there and into the red building again. But as she leaned forward to take a closer look at the entrance of the road, she decided not to. The whole entrance was pitch-black, and everything just seemed to disappear in it… Who would want to go in there?

Leaving the area, Chihiro continued to walk down the path. Looking at the horizon, the sun emitted a light glow of orange and red as it was about to set. Chihiro would really care less if she didn't get back home in time for dinner. Her parents were…. Well, they're parents. They '_care about you and whatever they do, they do because they love you'._ It's not like Chihiro didn't like her parents, she… just didn't really like to be with them that much. Hey, even girls like her needed to have some time alone too.

She really seemed to be wandering endlessly in the wide-open road. But as she turned her head to the right, she discovered a temple.

'A temple?' she gazed at the front door, 'I never knew there was a temple here.' But then again, she just moved here. It wouldn't be very surprising if she saw something that she had never seen before. Without thinking much about the consequences, Chihiro decided to visit the temple and make a prayer to the gods and spirits.

She admired the scenery of this temple that she discovered. The temple was quiet, with some occasional chirp of birds. There was no one there, and it didn't look like there was anytime that anyone was there. It felt really peaceful. The air was fresh. The trees were a color of blunt forest green, and the wooden color of the architecture went perfectly well with it. While Chihiro was drowned in the beauty of the temple, she heard a voice of a man behind her.

"Little miss… May I help you?"

She turned around frantically to see an old man dressed in a blue-gray shrine outfit. He had a little white beard hanging from his thin chin. Under the tall, slim hat he wore, it didn't seem as if any existed on his head either. Chihiro could barely see his eyes, for his winkles squinted them close. He was tall and thin, and he was smiling at Chihiro.

"I-I was just passing by…" Chihiro reasoned nervously, afraid that she had run into someone's private territory, "I saw this temple… and I came in to take a look….Er..."

The old man looked at Chihiro with a taint of amusement.

"All worlds differ by not much," he told Chihiro, earning a confused look on her face, "All that is different are the beings that do and do not exist." Chihiro would be slightly imitated if it wasn't an old man talking to her.

"I cannot bring you that person you need" the man continued "But there is a person that can help you see."

Chihiro didn't know what to do. She didn't really know what she came in this temple for anyway, but she felt a bit frightened from the old man's words. Chihiro couldn't understand why she needs help from a person that didn't exist in this world. 'Maybe it's just a way to get customers…' she thought, reassuring herself that what the man said was of that reason. And since she felt pretty adventurous today, she decided to give it a try.

"S-Sure… umm… can I see her?" Chihiro found herself saying. He seemed pleased and showed it with a smile. Chihiro felt a slight bit of strangeness by doing all this. She felt weird by going into a temple she discovered in the middle of the road and that she never knew existed. By meeting an old man that told her she needs help from 'someone who doesn't exist'. And by meeting some person that can help her _see, __whatever that would mean_.

"Of course… please wait for a moment," the old man gave her another smile and faced the building behind Chihiro. With and unexpected loud voice, he called, "Kazusa! You have a customer!"

'Kazusa?' Chihiro thought, surprised. 'Maybe it's just a person with the same name,' she thought again. But as the door of the main door slid open, she came face to face with the girl she wouldn't expect to find here.

"Kazusa…?" Chihiro said to the other girl. Kazusa was standing there; an infinitely surprised look plastered on her face. A red and white piece of clothing hung on her small body frame as her hands held a large, yin-yang plate.

"Chi-Chihiro?"

* * *

Eige-Chan: WHEWW... that was a long chapter...

Kaonashi: Uh-Uh-Huh! (Translation: Good Job!)

Eige-Chan: Hehe, thanks... By the way, Haku's not going anywhere near the human world for... at least until next chapter (or the next), and... for more information on Kazusa, please visit my profile!

Haku: Not anywhere near the human world....? So much for being free... -depression-

Eige-Chan: Now, come-on~ Some chapter you will -grins- And, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!! More reviews, faster updates! -grin grin-

Yubaba: Like anyone would like you to update your stupid story.... -gets smashed by Eige-Chan-


	4. Fate Begins

Eige-Chan: Tehee~! Chapter Four is UPP!!! (I don't own Spirited Away)

Yubaba: Tch... you haven't uploaded for a while... I see you're having alittle writer's block... -evil grin-

Eige-Chan: -glare- I do not!! Besides, who was the one that said 'Like anyone would like you to update your stupid story.... '? Why do YOU care if I don't update?

Yubaba: .... Hmph, you win this time... -walks away-

Eige-Chan: -returns to happy mode- Yes!! Ooh, and I'd really really want to thank all the people who had read/reviewed/favorited my story! It really gives me the drive to keep writing -grins- And, here are the reviewers for the last chapter: **Porterz007**, **Abrel Kaden**, **White Rosary**, and **Yep (anonymous** **reviewer)**! Thank you guys so very much~~!

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**Chapter Four: Fate Begins**

Chihiro stared innocently at the girl before her. Sensing the gaze of Chihiro, Kazusa forced herself not to look at her. She tried her best to avoid her gaze by turning her head to the side. The two girls were seated inside the large and empty temple. The lavender-smelled mats they were sitting on rustled as Kazusa moved her hip uncomfortably.

An awkward silence fell upon the room.

FLASHBACK; A FEW MOMENTS AGO

"Kazusa…?" Chihiro said to the other girl. Kazusa was standing there; an infinitely surprised look plastered on her face. She was wearing a red and white traditional suit and holding a ying-yang fortune telling plate.

"Chi-Chihiro?"

Kazusa stuttered as she spoke. She looked at Chihiro with eyes clouded with devastation and sadness. It was over. Her newly-found friendship with Chihiro was over. It didn't even last for a week! She had tried her best to hide the fact that she was a Miko. She did everything to prevent Chihiro to know that she was such a character. She couldn't believe this happened. No, not again.

Chihiro stared at Kazusa with amazement. She looked beautiful with the red and white traditional suit hanging loosely against her petite figure. As much as she was dazzled by the beauty of Kazusa, Chihiro didn't forget to stop and think. So far, she knew that Kazusa had a secret that she didn't know herself. She looked at the girl before her. Her eyes were clouded and empty at the same time. Chihiro decided that this couldn't be her 'secret', for sure; because she must know it herself that she was a Miko, right? Her secret was something that she herself didn't know about. Not this.

"You… know each other?" the old man asked the girls with a smile hanging across his wrinkled face. His smile faded away as he looked at the girls who didn't reply him. As soon as he sensed the tension between them, he quickly hurried them into the building behind them. "Take your time, girls..." Then he shut the door close.

END FLASHBACK

Chihiro didn't understand why Kazusa was acting that way; spacing off with blank eyes, mouth agape, etc. It didn't feel like her personality. Chihiro frowned slightly as Kazusa turned away to avoid her gaze.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro," Kazusa said out of the blue. It took Chihiro off guard. Why did she need to apologize? She didn't do anything wrong, did she?

"I'm sorry, that I didn't tell you about this; that I am a Miko. I…I couldn't bear to tell you." She stared at the floor as she spoke. Chihiro raised a brow at the saying.

"I've been in this temple since an infant... And was being home-schooled by the priest." said Kazusa, her head still head low. Chihiro nodded slightly, thinking that the old man out there might be the priest that she was talking about.

"And your parents...?" asked Chihiro slowly. Kazusa looked up from the ground and stared at the brunette with unbelievable eyes. Chihiro blinked twice at the look. She wondered if she had triggered some bad memories and so quickly stepped in to cover up.

"You don't have to answer if you can't...!" she quickly said, waving her hands in front of her to express her feelings. The girl before her stayed silent for a few moments.

"...Why... Why aren't you running away?" Kazusa asked afterwards, with the unbelievable look still hanging in her eyes.

"Why... would I be running away?" answered Chihiro, a questioning, confused look forming on her face.

"...Didn't you hear me? I'm a Miko!" Kazusa said, raising her voice slightly as she leaned closer to the brunette.

"...And?"

The black haired girl blinked at the response. She plopped back unto her lavender mat as her unbelievable expression started to wither away. "Don't you think it's strange...or scary?" she asked, "Being a Miko... that is."

"Of course not!" Chihiro grinned as she spoke, "Why would I?"

Kazusa's expression softened up as she heard those words. She took a deep breath and let out the exact same amount before speaking again.

"You were asking about my parents?" She asked Chihiro. The brunette perked up and nodded slightly.

"Both my mother and father passed away when I was born. The priest of this temple was a friend of theirs, so he took me in," said Kazusa slowly, "I grew up as a Miko... so this year is the first time that I've been to a school." The girl smiled as she finished, "I don't really know my parents well anyway, so it's not that hard on me."

Chihiro looked at Kazusa with guilt as she listened. She didn't know that Kazusa had an... abnormal... family. She shouldn't have asked... She couldn't even imagine what would life be like without her parents, or what would she feel like if she would spent her whole life in a temple... But then again when she looked at Kazusa, it didn't seem like that she disliked the fact in any way.

"Being a Miko isn't that bad, really. But... it's much more difficult to get to know people," Kazusa whispered the second sentence softly as she fiddled with the mat under her hips. Chihiro blinked at the statement.

"What do you mean?" she asked without thinking.

Kazusa showed a sad little smile as she realized that she would have to explain the whole thing to Chihiro. Well, sooner or later she would have to make it known to her anyway, since they were best friends and secrets will get through somehow. So she might as well let her know now. The Miko stepped up from her mat as she walked towards one of the few cabinets of the room. Reaching out for the last and smallest drawer in the wooden structure, she pulled out a small, white piece of something. She handed it to Chihiro.

"..Huh..?" Chihiro murmured as she flipped the white thing over. Behind the white surface were infinite amounts of colors and shapes. She found out that it was a photo-shot.

She blinked at what was shown on it. A young girl and a young boy were present. The girl was... the girl looked exactly like Kazusa, except younger. And the boy... the boy had a head of honey-blonde hair, which was fairly long for a boy's hair length. His gem-like eyes filled the essence of the whole picture. But, unlike the girl beside him, he wasn't smiling. At least, not very much.

"I was seven years old back then," Kazusa started, "He appeared out of nowhere one day, and I approached him." She took the picture back from Chihiro's hands and stared at it for an amount of seconds before speaking again.

"He didn't know anything about me and neither do I, but we became the best of friends in a week's time," she said, "People of my age... usually avoid me a lot, since I wasn't exactly... normal to be with. But not him. He wasn't like that... His elder sister was very nice towards me too, but I had only talked to her for a couple of times."

Chihiro listened carefully at every single word. Up to now there didn't seem to be anything wrong with what Kazusa had said, and she couldn't find anything that related to the topic, but she kept listening anyway.

"And then... there was one day," said Kazusa, her voice starting to get slightly shaky, "He walked into this temple, like you did. And naturally, at the temple I was in a position of a Miko. I was performing fortunes for a ceremony that time, so I didn't see him at first. But when I did... he already had his back turned towards me and soon walked away without saying anything..."

"I did chased after him," she continued, "But he was gone when I went out... and I never saw him again." She made a short pause after that, "That's why I couldn't tell you…." Kazusa said as she looked at Chihiro with her watery eyes, "I couldn't afford to loose another friend."

Chihiro could feel tears in her eyes after she heard Kazusa finished the sentence. She couldn't tell if she was about to cry because she was touched by how much she means to Kazusa, or because she was mad at her to think that she would actually care if she was a Miko or not. Either way, Chihiro tried to hold back her tears with the best she could.

"…Baka…" Chihiro murmured softly under her breath as she lifted her face to meet Kazusa's. "You really think I would care about you being a Miko or not?" Chihiro's voice was close to a shout by now. She felt really bad for Kazusa, having an incomplete family and prejudiced friend. She wanted to be her friend; her true friend, and it was not out of sympathy. Kazusa was such a nice girl, and Chihiro couldn't find a reason for anyone not to like her. She thought about Kazusa's so-called 'friend' from the past who walked out on her and cursed him mentally. _What kind of a friend are you? _

"I became your friend because you're you. It wouldn't make a difference if you're a Miko or not." Chihiro said with a smile, "I'll always be your friend, so don't worry."

Kazusa bit her lower lip to prevent her tears from spilling. She never had such a friend who persists on being her friend no matter what kind of character she is. Well, she had only two friends until now, but that's not the point. She had a sudden urge to jump up and hug Chihiro until she suffocates, but decided against it since then she'd loose her only friend again.

Kazusa tilted her head to the left and smiled as a single drop of tear rolled down her face.

"Thank you, Chihiro…"

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"The boy… he regained his name?"

"Yes, Rikuto-sama."

"…That pathetic dragon… how is his condition now?"

"He had left the bathhouse and is in search of a way to enter the human world."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"He wants to reach the human girl who gave him his name back."

"A human girl, huh…. Interesting…"

"Yes indeed, Rikuto-sama."

"Do some research on the girl and every person who has contact with her."

"Yes, Rikuto-sama."

"Now, go find the boy… and give him a little 'congratulations' for getting his name back."

"..."

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

"…Yes, Rikuto-sama."

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"..aku… Haku!" Kohaku heard a familiar sound calling his name. No wait. He heard a familiar sound calling his _former_ name. He slowly opened his emerald green eyes and tried to look at the person, but his blurred vision was not helping him. All he saw were colors; blue, white, brown, peach…. And a giant blob of black beside those colors. He winced at the sudden streak of pain brought by his nerves.

"Uh-huh-uhuh! (Translation: He's awake!)" Kohaku turned to the giant black-colored blob at his left. Kaonashi…? That means he's in Zeniba's place. But how did he get here? No, it's not like he didn't want to be here. He did intend to arrive at this place to ask Zeniba for help; to ask her of ways to get to the human world. But, the only thing he remembered is running down the train tracks and arriving at the Swamp Bottom Forests. Then, everything just went black. Kohaku squeezed his eyes shut as he squirmed on the sofa he was lying on. The pain was unbearable. He could feel his heart throbbing at an unbelievable pace.

"Oh dear… Kaonashi, go get some hot water please. Haku, do not move. If you move, your injuries will get much worse." Kohaku gradually settled down at the comment, but he knew that his calmness wouldn't last for long. As much as he could endure pain, this kind of pain was a kind that he had never felt before. It streaked from his chest to every part of this body. The pain was like a virus replicating in his blood stream, and destroying everything in their way.

"Hold on there, Haku. Kaonashi is getting the pills for you." Kohaku had regained his vision slowly. The blurred visions of colors were molding itself into a more solid, shaped figure. He saw Zeniba, with her gigantic eye-balls staring at him worriedly. Next to her was Kaonashi, holding some pills and a mug of hot water with the tiny hands popping out from his translucent, black body. Kaonashi was also wearing a… pink apron with flowers all over it? Kohaku slowly rubbed his eyes with the tiny bit of strength left in his arm. Yep, he wasn't wrong. Kaonashi is indeed wearing a pink apron with flowers all over it.

But it wasn't really the best time to notice what a no-faced spirit was wearing. Kohaku's deadly pain was back again. A sudden outburst of the unbearable feeling sent his heart pumping like crazy. Kohaku gripped his ripped-opened shirt hardly and groaned softly as shut his eyes close. He was trying his best not to squirm, for Zeniba told him it would hurt much more if he did. Kaonashi quickly brought the pills and the mug of hot water to him.

But Kohaku couldn't eat the medicine. Well, at least not by himself. He couldn't sit up, due to the place he was injured, which is his chest. If he sits up, the wound would probably crack open and blood would be pouring out nonstop again. Kaonashi happily obliged to stick both the pill and water in his mouth. Kohaku had a hard time swallowing the bitter mixture, but he succeeded in a matter of seconds later. Loosening his grip on his shirt, Kohaku felt a slight bit of ease from the gradually lessened pain and let out a small sigh.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk… poor boy…" Zeniba said as she grabbed a chair and sat herself next to the sofa Kohaku was lying on. Kohaku turned his eyes to Zeniba as if to say 'What had happened to me?' Zeniba, getting the message the dragon was sending through his eyes (his throat is probably… muted for the time being, due to overly painful outbursts of his injuries), explained everything she knew to him.

"I was peacefully making dinner with Kaonashi helping me." Zeniba started. That explains the pink, frilly, flowered apron Kaonashi was wearing.

"However, my lamp-post, who was out wandering in the forests for a walk, suddenly bursts in, squealing violently. It then leaded me out to the farthest end of the forest, to the part of the forest that was closest to the train station." Kohaku gave a small nod attentively. So far it was where he last remembered himself; the part of the forest closest to the train station.

"Then I saw a boy, who doesn't look much older than you; around twelve to thirteen years old." Kohaku stared into space as Zeniba told him he was with another person. He didn't remember being with another person. Well, he didn't really remember anything, so he continued to listen to Zeniba.

"The boy was covered in a sort of black suit, from head to toe. The only part that wasn't covered was his eyes. His eyes were a dark shade of purple, or violet to be more exact. It was a pair of cold, stone-like eyes with no emotion whatsoever…" Zeniba stared at Kohaku for a second to see if he recalls any of this. Judging from his blank expression, he obviously does not. Zeniba continued.

"He was holding a knife, a dagger, actually. It had a glistening shade of cyan-silver, but despises its shining beauty; it was covered with a blob of crimson blood. When the boy saw me and Kaonashi there, he immediately jumped off to somewhere in the forest and disappeared. And behind the spot he stood on, was you, Haku, sprawled across the ground and drowned in a pool of your own blood."

Kohaku tried to ignore the fact that Zeniba was still calling him with his former name. He'll tell her later when his voice gets back. But now, what bugs him the most is that how did he get defeated so easily? He was a class A magic apprentice and is top skilled in almost every element; water was still his most skilled one, though. How did he not notice a person creeping behind him and knocking him unconscious? Well, he didn't really have proof that the person was creeping behind, but it was a theory for now. Either way, Kohaku was sure that that must be a very, _very_ powerful person.

Another thing that he couldn't understand is why did the person attack him? He really didn't remember having a sworn enemy or something like that. Yubaba might be an exception; she might be still mad about him leaving the bathhouse. But still, Yubaba wasn't _that _persistent of him to send some ninja-boy to go and kill him. Besides, staying with Yubaba for that many years, he was pretty sure that Yubaba didn't know any other 'skilled and powerful' boy of his age. So, Yubaba could be crossed off the list, leaving no other suspect Kohaku could think of.

"Kaonashi and I helped carry you back here, but your wound was really cut in dept. The blood wouldn't stop flowing for fifteen minutes. We thought you were going to die out of blood loss, but thankfully, and weirdly, the blood stopped automatically a little while later. Kaonashi then helped you smudge some medicine on and wrapped you up with some white cloth, since I don't own and gigantic band-aid, and then you've been unconscious until now." Zeniba stared at Kohaku blankly, waiting for a reaction, but there was none. She figured that he didn't remember a single thing apart from arriving at the Swamp Bottom. And for the reason why he'd come to the Swamp Bottom, Zeniba decided to ask him tomorrow. The boy needs some rest now. She stood up from her chair and put a blanket over Kohaku.

"You need some rest now, dear. We'll continue tomorrow." The boy replied with a small nod. Zeniba and Kaonashi then slowly walked to their bedrooms, closing the lighting in the living room as they did so.

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"Ah, you're back. How did it go?"

"My sincere apologies, Rikuto-sama, Yubaba's sister caught me. So I had to stop."

"Tch… the old hag, Zeniba… Well, it doesn't matter. The cut you gave him was deadly, he would feel painful enough. Heh… I like to torture my prey before I kill it…."

"…Yes, Rikuto-sama…"

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Eige-Chan: -pants- -pants- AHHH, that was a loooong chapter....

Rikuto-sama: Yes indeed...

Eige-Chan: -freaks out- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! You're supposed to be a secret! Get out, now, now! Shoo-shoo!

Rikuto-sama: -death glare- What are you to command me, the almightly RIKUTO-SAMA!?!? -dramatical thunder-

Eige-chan: -death glare- Well, for your information, I AM YOUR CREATOR!!! -dramatical thunder-

Person who was talking to Rikuto-sama in the story: Rikuto-sama, the Ramen you ordered has arrived.

Rikuto-sama: Ooh! Really?! -hyper- I LOOOVE RAMEN! -skips off-

Eige-Chan: -sweatdrops- Uhh.. okay? -returns to happy mode- A-N-Y-WAYS~! Since I'm starting my summer vacation, I would be uploading at about... at least a chapter per week! PLEEEASE read and review~~~~! -super 1000 megawatts grin-


	5. Fate Discovers

Eige-Chan: Chapter Five is UP!! (I don't own Spirited Away.)

Kazusa, Chihiro and Kaonashi: Huh-huhuh! / Yes it is!

Eige-Chan: Okay... I got a question from **Porterz007 **from his/her (Sorry... I can't tell XD|||) review on the last chapter!

"What exactly is a Miko?"

A miko is basically a shrine maiden; young, female attendants. Hmm... it's something like the Japanese version of a nun. Execpt that you can only be a miko when you're young (ie: 5~25, I guess...) and you could get married. The miko of a temple/shrine is usually the daughter of the priest (in Kazusa's case, she's sort of the 'adopted' daughter of the priest) and does things like performing in ceremonies, offering fortunes, etc.

Oh yes, I also got a question from my friend who was reading my story a few days ago and so I decided to answer it here, since someone might have a same question.

"Where's the HakuxChihiro pairing? It all seems so none-romantic."

"THEY'RE FRIGGIN' TEN/TWELVE! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?"--- That was what I told my friend. Okay, I gota say this. Fluff and romance is nice, but too much of it will ruin the story. I'm writing a story with a plot, so don't expect too much loovey doovey stuffs. There's also the age problem (that I mentioned on the first line). I doubt that there would be a drastic age change in the middle of the story... they're all just going to stay kiddish. So... in the future there will definetely be a chapter on HakuxChihiro, but it'll be subtle... not so 'passionate' and everything. It's more like puppy love... Just pure, innocent puppy love.

Eige-Chan: Ugh.. I did too much talking... Okay~~! Thanks to the only reviewer for the last chapter, **Porterz007**, and on with the story!

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**Chapter Five: Fate Discovers**

"Of course it's alright! You're my best friend! Besides, isn't this what you came for?" Kazusa said as she held Chihiro's hand with both of her hands. Chihiro felt a little guilty when Kazusa had offered her fortune services for free. From what it looks like, the temple didn't really get a lot of visitors very often, meaning that they didn't get a lot of customers, which means that their income is probably… very less. Considering that, granting free services to a rare-coming customer is not the best choice to make.

Kazusa wouldn't listen to Chihiro when she offered to pay some money. Kazusa insisted that she did it for her for free. Chihiro was her only friend now, her best friend. And after what happened inside the temple; after Chihiro made herself clear that she would be her friend no matter what, this kind of service was the least she could do for Chihiro. Besides, she never had the chance performed her fortunes on one of her friends before. The fortune she was going to perform on Chihiro was also a very special one that she rarely had a chance to do. Kazusa was practically _gleeful_.

"Here, here! Sit down here." Kazusa had instructed Chihiro to sit down at one of the two mats placed at the main room of the temple. Chihiro looked around the new room she had arrived in. It was larger than the room that she had been awhile ago; the room where Kazusa explained her 'past and identity' to her. It was also a lot emptier, with only tatami covered floors, mats, and a few cabinets. While Chihiro was observing her new surroundings, Kazusa had just finished fiddling with the one of the few cabinets present in the room. She walked towards the girl who was already seated and sat down herself.

Kazusa placed the Ying-Yang fortune-telling board in front of her and reached into her pocket to pull out two other things. Chihiro stared with a questioning look at the objects Kazusa pulled out of her pocket; a fist-sized black bag tied up at its opening and a slender glove with the same color. Kazusa slid her left hand into the glove as she untied the knot at the opening of the black bag to reveal a pile of silver dust. Taking a small amount of the shimmering dust, Kazusa sprinkled it on both the Ying-Yang board and her glove.

"Remember, Chihiro-chan. Do not open your eyes until the fortune is finished." Kazusa said with a serious look forming across her face. The fortune she was going to perform on Chihiro was one that required high skills and a highly cooperative patient. It was a past-viewing fortune, an ancient art that was started some million centuries ago. It reads up the past of the patient, not the memory. In other words, it can read up everything you've been through, whether you remember it or not. It was definetly a convenient fortune, but if something went wrong in the middle of it, there was a high possibility that the mind of the person would be altered. But since it was _Kazusa_, the girl who started learning ancient arts since she was 3 and had started performing fortunes for people since she was 5, it would be pretty safe.

"Ready?" Kazusa asked the girl seated in front of her. Chihiro replied with a nod and closed her eyes. Kazusa whisked her right hand, the un-gloved hand, across the Ying-Yang board, tracing its complex outline with the scattered silver dust. A matter of seconds passed by as Kazusa carefully outlined the pattern, leaving no single trace of the silver dust on places that was not the outline. As soon as the whole piece was completed, a strong gust of wind flew out from the white part of the board, followed by a strong shine of light from the black part. Chihiro's face twitched as the gust of wind blew through her face. Her eyes struggled to stay close as she wanted to know what was going on. Why was there wind? They were inside a building, right?

"Chihiro!" Chihiro tensed the muscles around her eyes as Kazusa shouted her name to remind her not to open her eyes. Though she did not know why she couldn't open her eyes, she decided that it was part of the rituals in fortune-telling and so did her best to shut them.

As the strong gust wind continued to blow in the room, Kazusa slowly reached out to Chihiro's forehead with her gloved hand. As soon as the glove made contact with Chihiro's skin, both the wind and the light that were flowing out endlessly were cut out instantly. Kazusa's vision of Chihiro, the temple, and everything around her stared to disappear as she entered a state of complete darkness. Slowly, new images and sounds started to appeared before her…

"_Mama! Mama! My shoe fell into the river!" _

"_Sweetie, come on, let's go now."_

"_But Mama! My shoe…."_

"_Darling, come on… we have no ti—… Chihiro! What are you doing! Come back!"_

"_Mama! Save me! I can't swi-- -gurgle- -gurgle-" _

_FLASH_

"_What's this strange building?"_

"_Must be a way in…"_

"_Honey! Let's go back, honey!"_

"_Hmm…it's just plaster. This building's pretty new."_

"_The wind's blowing in…"_

"_Let's go have a look, maybe there's a way though."_

_FLASH_

"_There's a train!"_

"_-stares- Ah!"_

"…_Uh?"_

"_You're not allowed here! Go back!"_

"_Wha…?"_

"_It's almost night time! Leave before it gets dark!"_

_FLASH_

"_If you don't work here, Yubaba will turn you into an animal."_

"_Yubaba?"_

"_You'll see later. She's the sorceress who rules this place."_

"_This isn't a dream, right? My parents really turned into pigs…"_

"… _I have to go now. But remember, Chihiro, I'm on your side."_

"_How do you know my name?"_

"_I've known you since you were little. My name is Haku."_

_FLASH_

"_Mmm…? Eeh! Kamajii, what's a human doing here?!"_

"_That's my granddaughter…"_

"_Granddaughter?!"_

"_She wants to work… but I got all the help I need… Lin, would you take her to Yubaba?"_

"_And risk my life? Not a chance!"_

"_Take this then… a roasted newt… Real quality…"_

_FLASH_

"_Haku! Are you alright?"_

"– _-gasps for air- -spits blood- -collapses-" _

"_Ooh... this is serious…"_

"_Haku! He's going to die!"_

_FLASH_

"_We're twins, but we really don't get along. Sorceress twins are a recipe for trouble…"_

"…"

""_I'd like to help you, dear, but there's nothing I can do. It's one of the rules here. You have to take care of your parents and that dragon boyfriend of yours on your own."_

_FLASH_

"_It's alright now, I have my name back."_

"_Will we meet again?"_

"_We will meet again."_

"_Promise?"_

"_Promise."_

Kazusa's eyes widened as the images before her disappeared and her vision of the real world came back to her. She let her gloved-hand drop from Chihiro's forehead to her lap, signifying that the fortune was over. Chihiro sensed the fact and opened her eyes. She looked at the girl seated before her. Her eyes were widened and her mouth was slightly opened. Not a word was spoken.

The silence continued for several minutes. Within the time, Kazusa had somehow got hold of herself and straightened up. She looked into her best friend's eyes with sincerity and dept as she released her first words after the striking fortune.

"Chihiro-chan… Do you… know a person named Haku?"

The name rings a bell in Chihiro's mind. Haku… She felt that she's heard the name before, but she couldn't remember when or where. Chihiro then decided that it was just her, thinking too much. She looked back at Kazusa with an innocent smile hanging across her face.

"No, I don't anyone named Haku."

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"Zeniba… Zeniba..." Kohaku called as he knocked on the door to the witch's bedroom. It was early morning and the sun had barely risen.

Kohaku had found himself awake a few moments ago, lying on Zeniba's sofa in the living room. What's more is that he had also found out that his wounds were completely healed_._ He couldn't comprehend what was going on then. His wounds that were bleeding endlessly yesterday had _magically _been healed today. The only trace of it that was left was a light scar that Kohaku found amazing amusing, for it was a precise shape of an X. Staring at his already-healed wound, he had remembered the boy that Zeniba mentioned yesterday. A boy that was his age who attacked him, succeeded, and left him with a serious wound that was a shape of an X. He still felt a little troubled and confused by everything, but then decided to leave it aside first. That boy is not his major concern now.

Anyways, since he is now capable of moving, speaking, and… every other physical movement a person could do, he is going to waste no time. He decided to rampage into the human world right now, which he couldn't do unless there was the help of Zeniba, of course.

And that brings us back to him knocking on Zeniba's door in the insanely early morning.

"…What is it……early in the morning…." A low murmur was heard in Zeniba's bedroom, followed by the creaky sound of the door that was opening slowly. Zeniba had her white hair fixed in a small, messy bun and was wearing a night gown that had a similar design to the blue dress she always wears. Her sleepy, slightly-irritated eyes didn't even bother to open, at least until she saw who was standing in front of her bedroom door. She saw a twelve-year old boy wearing a bloody, ripped-open work-shirt that revealed a big X shaped scar on his chest. Not exactly the first thing you what to see when you wake up.

A few seconds later, Zeniba was finally 'fully awaken' as she recognized the boy as Haku. Her now-enormous eyes slightly twitched in surprise and confusion. As far as she remembered, last night the boy's wounds were still on the verge to crack open and bleed endlessly. And now it's completely healed, leaving nothing but a scar?

"Zeniba… I have a favor to ask of you…"

..................

"Hmm… I see." Zeniba muttered as she took a sip from her breakfast tea. She eyed the boy sitting in front of her. Just a while ago, Kohaku had explained everything to her; his name, which is now Kohaku, his freedom that he just gained several days ago, the mystical healing of his wound (which he explained that he would rather drop the subject), and his want, no, his _need _to get to the human world right now. His explanation had whisked quickly through the first three subjects and so is mainly featured on his request to get into the human world. Zeniba could tell that he was really desperate. She looked at the boy again. His eyes no longer had the icy-sharp look it used to have. It was still calm and still, but somehow the feeling is different. How do you describe this… it had a _warmer_ feel to it?

"…It is possible to get you a human body…." Zeniba said slowly, "…since you're no longer in control of a contract. I don't think that would violate the rules…." As soon as Kohaku heard those words, his faced lightened up. The obvious feeling of joy was shown on his face. But when he was just about to speak, Zeniba had yet more information.

"But…" Zeniba slowly spoke as she took a bite of her apple pie she had baked just a while ago, "… the body wouldn't be permanent, of course. If it was, then wouldn't all the spirits be back in the human world?" Kohaku nodded, agreeing with her about the second sentence. He didn't feel so superb about the first one, though. A non-permanent body? What is that supposed to mean? The idea of transformation formed in his mind. Kohaku's eyes twitched at the thought of transforming into a dragon every once in a full moon. It made him feel like a werewolf/wolf-man. Sensing his unease, Zeniba quickly gave the explanation.

"It means that there is a time-limit. Three years max. Your human body could last for three years to its extent. In the meantime, you could travel freely between the human world and the spirit world, of course." Kohaku winced at the thought of it. Three years… not that it wasn't enough. He just didn't know if he could bear separation again… An instant image of Chihiro flashed into his mind. He tensed his eyes as he remembered that he made a promise with the human girl. He had no choice. He had to go.

"After then you will have to return to the spirit world and can never go back again." Zeniba calmly informed Kohaku. She frowned slightly as she saw that he was still wearing that bloody, ripped work shirt from yesterday. She made a mental note to have him change into something neater. She quietly ate her breakfast as the boy in front of her thought in silence. The untouched cup of tea before him gradually turned cold as he made his final decisions.

"I'll go." Kohaku blurted out of the blue, in the middle of silence. He earned a small chuckle from the witch seated before him, as if she already knew that he would say so. She collected the empty dishes from the table and placed them in the sink. She slowly walked to the living room. Reaching into the cabinets in the farthest end of the room, she pulled out a dusty scroll. Zeniba showed a slight smirk as she murmured something under her breath.

"…Just keep in mind that I have no control on where you're going to land…"

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Kazusa smiled weakly at the clouded sky as she walked around the forests that surrounded the temple. Her paper umbrella crunched as the rain water violently fell. Her red and white suit felt sticky and wet against her skin. The puddles under her feet splashed as she walked through them. Kazusa's footsteps slowed down as she remembered what had happened just yesterday when she had read her best friend's fortune... to reveal a surprising truth.

Kazusa couldn't believe what she had seen back then (even now, she hadn't completely soaked in all the information yet). She wouldn't have taken it seriously, but considering the fact that there wasn't anything wrong with the process of the fortune and that this was actually a past of someone, not a dream, it had to be real. She remembered the stories the priest of the temple used to tell her when she was young. The stories had always involved another world that lies by the edges of this world. The past of Chihiro was just like the 'another world' that she was so fond of.

She had seen such an amazing experience that her best friend lived through, but couldn't decide on a single emotion to represent her feeling. She felt happy, that this foreign world actually existed. She felt sad, that Chihiro didn't even remember anything about it. She felt scared, for a reason that she didn't know. She just somehow felt a streak of horror when she finished the fortune…

Kazusa shook the terrible thought out of her head as she continued to walk deeper into the bamboo-filled woods. At the same time, she remembered an interesting fact. Most of Chihiro's past that she saw contained a person named is Haku, or Kohaku to be more precise. He is a boy that was two years older than Chihiro and herself and is a spirit of the Kohaku River. He is a magic apprentice and is a dragon. He is also Chihiro's life-saver and best friend. Kazusa giggled as she thought of the possible relations between her best friend and this dragon boy.

A small _thud_ behind one of the bushes disrupted her thoughts. Kazusa wondered what was it, since the woods she was in rarely had any animals. She walked to the bush slowly and gently pushed away the leaves that were blocking her view with her right hand as she held onto her umbrella with her left hand.

"Eeh..?" Kazusa had found herself an unconscious person who was lying across the grass-covered floor in a head-first position and was soaked in rain water. She quickly ran to the person in surprise and confusion. Why would anyone be here at this time, in this weather? She dropped her umbrella as she used both of her hands to flip the person over.

"Are you alright?" she shouted worriedly. Her eyes twitched for a second. She couldn't tell if this person was a male or a female. The person had chin-lengthed hair with straight bangs and had a…. very feminine face. Her eyes told her that this is a girl while instincts told her this is boy. Either way, she had to get him/her conscious. Kazusa gently patted the person's face, attempting to wake him/her. She smiled as the person slowly opened his/her eyes, but the smile faded as she recognized the same emerald green orbs from Chihiro's past.

"….Haku?"

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Eige-Chan: Yeay~! The chapter's finished!!

Chihiro: -gasps- I HAVE THAT KIND OF PAST?!?!

Eige-Chan: -grins- Yes you do! -later beams Chihiro with a memory eraser-

Kohaku: I'm in the human world!

Eige-Chan: -grin- Yes you are!

Kazusa: -questioning look- And... I found him?

Eige-Chan: -grin- Yes you did! Ooh yes, I got some announcements to make... -ahem-...

1. I finally did some fan art!! (yeay~) It's somewhat like a 'cover', but it's more focused in the darker part of this story... So, maybe I'll do one that's focused on the happier part of the story, and then post both of them up together some other time!

2.... Remember me saying something about 'Uploading at least a chapter per week since summer vacation is here'? I apologize to all the readers that... that's not gonna happen Since I'll be taking summer classes that my SUPER DUPER UBER NICE mother organized... THANK YOU MOM..... Haha, but~! If I do get alot of reviews, I'll stay up late and try to patch up another chapter together. So...WANNA READ? THEN REVIEW!!! (Whispered: Pleeeease~!!! Pretty pleeeease~~ -bow bow bow-)


	6. Fate Converses

Eige-Chan: Chapter Six is up! (I don't own Spirited Away.)

Yubaba: Heh, you haven't uploaded in eleven days, HUMAN! Your life's not so perfect, huh? -evil laugh-

Eige-Chan: -depression- Ugh... you're right. I've been having stupid, chemistry classes every single day... -sigh-

Yubaba: -raises an eyebrow- Oh dear, you're not talking back to me today? I guess the sun's going to turn green later.

Eige-Chan: Yea, yea, very funny. Oh yes, thanks to the two reviewers for the last chapter, **Porterz007 **and **JstBreathe94**!

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**Chapter Six: Fate Converses **

Today is an incredibly gloomy Thursday, with the pouring rain and all. But, today is also an unusual holiday for students, due to the fact that most schools had arranged parent-teacher conferences. Chihiro enjoyed the serenity of her house as her parents were out attending the conference held at her school. Seated at her desk, Chihiro stared at the single window in her room. She tried to concentrate on her half-done report that was due tomorrow, but the pounding sound of rain water outside would always break her focus. She leaned back on her hard, wooden chair as she let out a defeated sigh.

Chihiro's eyes drifted from her gray-and-white eraser to the shimmering purple hair band placed at the farthest end of her desk. She grabbed it and started playing with it with her fingers. She found out that it was unexpectedly flexible; no matter how much or how hard you stretch it, it would always return to its original state, looking as new as ever. Staring deeply into the glowing color and the carefully woven threads, she was somehow reminded of the fortune with Kazusa yesterday. Chihiro's features formed themselves into a frown as she remembered how strangely Kazusa had behaved.

FLASHBACK; YESTERDAY

"No, I don't anyone named Haku."

"...I see…" Kazusa slightly bit her lip and stayed quiet for another couple of minutes. Looking at her previous gesture, Chihiro raised a brow. Here comes that familiar feeling. The way that Kazusa bit her lip reminding Chihiro of something, again. It's just pretty frustrating that she didn't know what that something is.

"Chihiro-chan, it is getting pretty late… you should probably leave now." Kazusa said attentively to her best friend. Chihiro looked through the paper windows of the temple. Kazusa is indeed correct; the sun had set and the moon has hung up high.

"About the fortune results..." Kazusa continued, hesitating on what to say next. "I will give you the complete analysis on Friday, since tomorrow is a holiday." The Miko gave her customer a grin to seal the conversation off. And so before Chihiro could say another word, she had been 'assisted' out from the temple doors, into the sidewalk, and in front her little blue house. Courtesy of Kazusa.

END FLASHBACK

Chihiro's frown fixed themselves back into a normal expression as she figured that she will get a complete answer for the confusing fortune tomorrow. For now, all she had to worry about was her stupid report. She glared at the hopeless, flickering lamp post and tried to fix it by smacking it continuously for the next few seconds. Unfortunately, the act just made the lamp post's condition worse. She sighed as she realized that now it wouldn't even light. Chihiro placed the purple hair band back at its original position and picked up her mechanical pencil in replacement. Now without her source of light, finishing her report seemed like an impossible dream again.

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"...Haku?"

It wasn't the best idea to call out his name. To Kohaku, Kazusa was a stranger, a random person in the human world that just happened to find him lying in the muddy water in the middle of a rainy day. She wasn't supposed to know his name, or nickname. And so Kohaku freaked out quite a bit when he heard the girl whisper his name and showed it in his actions by sitting up instantly, carrying a bewildered look on his face. Maybe because of his surprise, he lost his sense of agility. While he was rushing to sit up, he had knocked his head on a thick branch that caused him to pass out again.

Kazusa stared at the once-again unconscious figure before her. Her eyelids fluttered open and close as the rain water continued to pour. She was quite frightened and surprised when she had realized that this person was actually the river spirit that gave her best friend an experience of a life-time. Kazusa couldn't decide whether to leave him there like that or to bring him back to the temple, but one thing she was sure of was that _she, _herself had to get some shelter. Her whole body is now as wet and muddy as the boy before her. She peered to her side to find out that her paper umbrella had been crumpled and is now soaking itself in rainwater.

Kazusa turned back to the dragon boy who was lying limply on the ground. Looking at such a scene, her heart softened. Leaving anyone out here, unconscious, in this kind of weather is definitely a cruel thing to do. She decided to bring him back with her into the temple. Besides, the temple was empty and large. There should be room for another person.

She grabbed Kohaku by his wet, muddy work shirt and pulled him up to the point where he was leaning on a nearby bush. Kazusa frowned as she tried to think of a way to bring him to the temple. Dragging him along the ground wouldn't be an option, for he would be in a horrible condition by the time he gets to the shelter. She couldn't be carrying him on her back either, for numerous reasons. One of them being that her figure was way too small to pick the older boy up. But now, she couldn't think of a better idea than this one. Rolling up her heavy, wet sleeves, Kazusa used almost all of her strength to position Kohaku on her back; with his arms hanging across her shoulders and his legs locked at her waist by her hands.

Kazusa regretted the act as soon as she felt the weight that was put upon her. You would never know how heavy the boy _really_ was by just looking at him. He appeared to be so fragile, so girl-like. But once you get his whole body topping over your own, you would realize that he wasn't just skin and bones. But there was no turning back now. Kazusa slowly walked along the path to get back to the temple. She winced slightly as the slippery ground almost caused her to fall over with the added weight behind her back.

"Ah-choo!" Kazusa squeezed her eyes shut as she let out a small sneeze. The rain had become a little smaller and less violent, but in the other hand, strong gusts of icy cold wind started to blow in all directions. Both Kohaku and Kazusa's bodies were wet and soaked, so there was no doubt that they would catch a cold. A very serious one, in this matter, for the wind is just worsening their condition. Kazusa's footsteps started to quicken by then. With the heavy load behind her back, she mustered up all her strength to fasten her pace. She knew clearly that both of them would catch a deadly cold if they didn't get some warmth and shelter soon. Peering to her shoulders, she saw the unconscious boy's face. She had never been this close to a boy's face, ever, and so took the opportunity to observe him. His skin was smooth and fair, so was his hair. His eye lashes were, strangely, pretty long. His breath was slow and steady, as if he was asleep rather than unconscious. He really did seem like a girl.

Kazusa let out an awkward chuckle as she realized how funny her position with Kohaku was. It reminded her of a fairy tale she knew. Only that places were reversed; she was the prince and Kohaku was the princess.

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Zeniba hummed a melodious tune as she dried the dishes that Kaonashi washed a while ago. As she placed the last plate in one of the wooden cupboards, a creaking sound caused by an opening at the door was heard. Zeniba turned around as if she had expected this guest by her doorstep. She smiled slightly as the identity of this person was shown.

"Long time no see, Zeniba-san." The female at the door had a musical voice that contained an obvious dept to it.

"Indeed." the witch replied, "What brings you here at this time?"

"I see that you've sent him into the human world?" Zeniba's guest asked in a tone that's somewhat a mixture of friendliness and threat, if that's a possible combination.

"Yes." Zeniba replied with the same tone her guest used, "If it's causing you any trouble, I apologize. But the boy was determined; I couldn't have refused him even if I wanted to."

A small laugh was heard from the person at the door. "Dear, I never said it was causing me any trouble. Besides, the human world is a place within my reach. I suppose it wouldn't be too challenging."

"My, my, no wonder his injuries healed so quickly." Zeniba sighed as she went back to doing her chores. The other woman chuckled in reaction.

"So I've been found out?" She asked with obvious sarcasm.

Zeniba turned to face her guest. "Please continue to watch over them, my friend."

"I would have to even if I didn't want to, right?" The woman said as she grinned.

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Kohaku did not feel well. He stirred in his sleep as he felt an uncomfortable material against himself. Moving his fingers, he laid his hand on his chest to figure out what exactly it is. Much to his surprise, there wasn't anything there, except for a garment that he was unfamiliar with (but it was pretty comfortable, so that couldn't be it). He realized that the 'uncomfortable material' was actually his new human body, since in the spirit world he had no body; he was more of a 'ghostly figure' there. Kohaku sighed as he remembered what Zeniba said about 'having to get used to the human body' and something about side effects.

Groaning, he struggled to open his eyes to see where he was. With his senses of hearing and touching, he had figured that it was raining outside and he was sheltered in a building. Judging from the pillow underneath his head and the mattress below his body, he had been brought in by someone, rather than just being 'dropped' in by Zeniba's teleporting spells that came with the human-transformation. With his muscles finally starting to work, he sat up from his lying position. Kohaku wondered where he was.

He looked around the room to find it very spaced and neat. The floors were covered with tatami and a few mats. The door was a paper made slide-door and the roofs were made out of wood. It felt more like architect from the spirit world rather than the human world.

Looking down to his own body, he found an unfamiliar piece of clothing clothed on him. It was no longer the blue and white work shirt that Zeniba gave him (for his old one was ripped and bloody). It was a large, gray suit that was… very airy. It seemed like it could fit two of him since it was so long.

Kohaku frowned in confusion. He didn't remember much after Zeniba had zipped him off into the human world. And now he's in some… wooden, tatami building, wearing a gigantic, gray suit, and lying on a pillow and a mattress? God, he didn't even know where he is. Is he even close to Chihiro?

"I see you've awakened." Kohaku flinched as he heard the paper door slide open. A girl came in, holding a plate with a cup. He watched as she walked over and sat beside him, placing the cup on his right hand side.

"Drink this, its jasmine tea." She said, smiling. Kohaku didn't say anything as he reached for the warm cup. He realized that she was the one that brought him here. Kohaku eyed the girl silently as he slowly sipped from the cup. She looked a bit younger than himself; around ten or eleven. She had a head of black hair that was incredibly long, straight bangs, and emerald green eyes. She reminded him of someone, but for the moment he couldn't remember who.

"Thank you for the tea, umm… Ms…?" Kohaku said when he finished the warming liquid.

"Kawazoe Kazusa," Kazusa said as she collected the cup. She somewhat feel less frightened by the river spirit now, he is quite nice and he did seem human. She stared at him from the corner of her eye. He looked less girlish when he was awake.

"Kawazoe-san, May I please know what had happened to me? The last thing I remember is departing from my home." Kohaku asked the girl beside her.

"Umm… well, I was on a walk and I found you lying on the ground in the middle of the pouring rain. Since then you were unconscious for a few hours." Kazusa said, deciding to leave out the part where she carried him; he would probably freak out if he heard that. Looking down at the floor, she reminded herself that Kohaku wasn't aware of her knowing everything about the spirit world and about his incidents with Chihiro. Kazusa couldn't decide whether to tell him or not; she didn't know how he would react. But she was pretty sure that there was a high chance that she would be telling him; for the boy was nice and polite, so she would be delighted to help him with Chihiro. Another reason was that she felt a strange connection towards him, an unfamiliar feeling that she's never felt before. Kazusa wished to find out what that connection, what that feeling is, so the only way is probably to stick by his side for the meantime.

"I see…" Kohaku said, pausing for awhile as he organized his thoughts, "…Thank you for the hospitality, but I really need to go now." He fiddled with the mattress and the pillow, attempting to fold it up. "I need to… find someone," he said hesitantly.

Right then and there, Kazusa decided to tell him that she knew about everything. She suspected that the boy wouldn't be able to find Chihiro like this; knowing nothing about this world. Besides, she liked the idea of playing 'cupid' every once a while for him.

"Kohaku-san," Kazusa started, trying to give Kohaku a hint that she knew. But judging by the surprised look on his face, he didn't get the concept yet. "I believe the 'someone' you are looking for is… Ogino Chihiro… Chihiro-chan, right?" she continued, speaking in a very calm voice as the boy before her formed a stupefied look on his face.

"...How do you know my name? I don't think I've ever told you…and about Chihiro… How do you know…?" Kohaku asked her with a tone mixed with surprise, confusion, and suspicion as his facial expressions showed the exact same emotions.

Kazusa gave a small chuckle as she saw the expression on his face. In Chihiro's memories, Kohaku was a wise, dignified person. This kind of expression was probably never shown to the people in the spirit world or Chihiro. She looked at Kohaku from the corner of her eye and giggled afterwards, earning a slightly annoyed stare from him. Sensing the boy's eyes on her, Kazusa straightened herself up and smiled at Kohaku.

"The answers to both questions are the same, Kohaku-san. If you would listen to my explanation, I'd be glad to tell you."

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"Rikuto-sama, I have gathered the information on the human gir-"

"That's not important now! Kohaku's gone into the human world!"

"...That shouldn't be possible, Rikuto-sama. His wound can't be able to heal that fast."

"God, don't you get it? It's _that_ woman's work… "

"..."

"She knows I can't go into the human world and she plans this on me? HAH! Don't underestimate me…"

"Rikuto-sama, what do you mean?"

"... Heh… _I_ can't go to the human world, but _you_ can…"

"Wha-What?"

"Dear, you shall go in my behalf…"

"B-But Rikuto-sama, I can't possi-"

"Of course you can! Right now. You'll go right now!"

"........ Ye-Yes, Rikuto-sama…"

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Eige-Chan: IT'S FINISHED! Okay, the chapter's finished, not the story.

Kohaku: -frowns- The human body is indeed uncomfortable... Don't you humans feel it?

Eige-Chan: -sweatdrops- Ahh.... I guess we're used to it. -grin- A-N-Y-WAY~~~ I've noticed a real funny thing in this chapter... Kazusa?

Kazusa: -perks up- Yes?

Eige-Chan: -grin- When you brought Kohaku into the temple, his clothes are wet and he's unconscious. When he wakes up, he's in a _dry_, gray suit. I believe YOU CHANGED IT FOR HIM?

Kazusa: -blushes- N-N-No! Th-The priest changed it for him! -turns to Kohaku- The priest is just an old man, so it's okay, right?! I promise I didn't see anything!!

Kohaku: -blushes and sweatdrops- Ah-h.... That's fine, I guess...

Eige-Chan: -laughs- Haha... they're so cute. -ahem- By the way, they have NOTHING going on between them. This is just something the evil author (that would be me, MUAHAHAHA) decided to mention since there's nothing better to do. Hehe, pleeeeeeeeease read and review, fellas!


	7. Fate Reunites

Kazusa:-reads from a piece of paper- Chapter Seven is up! (Eige-Chan don't own Spirited Away.)

Kazusa: -ahem- Eige-Chan is currently sleeping for she had worked on this chapter for the whole night yesterday without rest. And I will be taking her place today! -looks at piece of paper- Eige-Chan says "Sorry for taking a long time updating... I guess I'm experiencing a little writer's block... This chapter might not be so great, but I hope you enjoy it!"

Kazusa: Okay! Now, thanks to the reviews for the last chapter, **Porterz007** and the two anonymous reviewers,** Hahahahahahaha** and **Anonymous**! And on with the story!

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**Chapter Seven: Fate Reunites**

Kazusa slid the door close as she left the room where Kohaku is now occupying. She eyed the sky intensely as she prepared to walk back to her own room. Night had already fallen, and the moon was shining brightly among the sparkling stars.

"My, isn't this Kazusa?" Turning around as she heard the crackled voice, Kazusa smiled as she discovered the old priest standing before her.

"What are you doing here this late, dear?" he asked, "You should get some sleep."

"Ah… I was talking with Kohaku-san…" Kazusa answered, walking towards the older man as she spoke. The priest didn't reply as he just stood there, staring at the sky. Kazusa reacted in the same way. Both of them were silent for a while, watching the glittering galaxy before them.

"That Kohaku…" The priest finally said, breaking the silent moment, "… his soul isn't human." Kazusa didn't seem surprised to hear him say that, as if she already knew that he had noticed the fact. A light breeze blew across their figures as the priest continued his sayings.

"Not only that," he said, eyeing Kazusa with his squinty, wrinkled-up eyes, "When I was changing his clothes for him, there was a large scar on his chest." Kazusa frowned slightly as she heard that. According to Chihiro's memories, there wasn't any incident that could cause a scar on his chest. Well, there was the time when he stole the golden seal from a 'Zeniba-san', but that was just severe blood-spitting and a few torn scales. No scars.

"Kohaku-san… is from another world," Kazusa said, earning no surprised looks from the older man.

"The same world that that girl yesterday had visited?" The priest asked, smiling as he saw the amazed look on Kazusa's face. It made sense that he knew about everything, actually. He was the teacher of Kazusa since she was little; he was the one that taught her about fortunes, sensing spiritual presence, and more. He had known what Chihiro had been through by just looking at her the other day, since both his spirit and skills were so high-leveled and polished; he didn't even need to perform a fortune to know.

But, it wasn't the same with Kohaku. He couldn't really tell exactly who or _what_ he is. All he could tell is that he's someone with great spiritual energy which was far too great for a human to hold, thus concluding that he wasn't human or anything close to it. Another interesting fact he had noticed from the boy, was that he had a presence that was very similar, almost identical as Kazusa. But, in normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for two people, who have very similar spiritual energy, to cross paths and meet. There is definitely something going on. There is someone pulling strings behind their backs.

He could tell, with Kazusa's level of skill and sensing, she didn't know about this strange occurrence yet. But, the priest had decided to stay silent about this matter, for there is no need to alert the girl right now; she is but ten years old. Besides, looking at the soft, joyous expressions on Kazusa while she took care of Kohaku was definetly a sight. Why interrupt?

"Tomorrow… something extraordinary is going to happen tomorrow." Kazusa said, smiling at the old man, who now carries a surprised and confused look upon hearing her. She grinned as she pointed towards the sky for the reason of her saying. "A cresent moon lined horizontally to the fourth largest star within a kilometer of sight at the last strike of midnight… according to astrological fortunes, book 7, page 289."

A chuckle was heard from the priest. Maybe he was wrong about Kazusa's level of skill and studies after all.

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Kohaku's eye twitched as he caught sight of the numerous children sitting on wooden chairs with tables before them. He squinted at the terribly bright lighting of the human worlds' light bulbs. He frowned at the screeching sound of friction between the chalk and the chalkboard as the teacher wrote his _name_ on it.

_Kawazoe Kohaku_

Ugh, he couldn't believe he had actually agreed on this sort of thing. Going to a facility that the humans call 'school' and learn about their so-called studies, which in his opinion is practically useless (in the spirit world, at least). His most important name, which he had not remembered for quite a long time and when now he finally gets it back, he has to change it due to stupid reasons like, "Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi is not a name for normal humans", and, "In order to get in the school you would have to feign to be my relative, using the name Kawazoe", as Kazusa had said yesterday.

Of course, he hadn't agreed to do this for nothing. Kazusa had promised food, clothing, shelter, and everything else that is needed to survive in this unfamiliar human world. He had wondered why the girl did all this for him; arranging a place for him in this school, allowing him to stay –-ahem-_ live_ in her residence. Why did she do all these troublesome things that obviously did not and will not give her any benefits? Normally, he would get suspicious and refuse all proposes, but this time, he had an awfully strange vibe of trust towards Kazusa. Maybe it is because she had saved his life. Maybe it is because she knew about Chihiro and her locked-away memories of the spirit world. Or maybe, it is just because the way she smiles places a feeling of relief and warmth in his heart…

Anyway, aside from the _uncomfortable_ stares from most of the girls in this room, the non-stop chattering of the students with himself as the subject that involves strange words he had never heard of, something had been concerning him for a while since he entered this classroom. He scanned the room quickly and frowned. He whipped his head around to face Kazusa as he sent signals with his eyes: "I thought you said she attended this school…where is Chihiro?"

Kazusa caught the message and simply grinned at the boy, pointing towards her right hand side as she did so. Kohaku raised a brow as he saw nothing but an empty set of tables and chairs. He turned back to Kazusa just in time to receive a message from her eyes: "She is late for school, as always."

..................

Chihiro panted as she ran viciously towards her school's front gate. Great. She had over-slept again. This was the third time she's late, and today was just the fifth day she's been in this school! That would definitely not look nice on her report card… She shivered as she thought about how her parents would scold her.

"Ugh… it's all that stupid report's fault…" Chihiro muttered under her breath as she quickly changed into her indoor-shoes in the empty locker space. Exactly, her report is the main cause of her lateness. She had been slaving on her report until midnight, and thus ending up with only four or five hours of sleep.

"That report better get me a miraculously high grade…"she murmured as she checked her watch subconsciously while running up the stairs to get to her classroom.

..................

"Good day, everyone. I am Kazusa's cousin brother, Kawazoe Kohaku. I have been out of country for a few years and I missed school, so I'm probably one or two years older than all of you." Kohaku said in the perfect tone, just like how he had rehearsed with Kazusa yesterday. To be frank, he had been amazed that the girl could actually think of this very _creative_ excuse and reason for him, a twelve year old boy, to be in this class. As he looked around the room, he found quite a range of ages. There were nine year olds, ten year olds, and a few eleven year olds. No twelve year olds. But that's not the point. He came here for Chihiro, to fulfill his promise and restore her memory.

"I'll be in your care," Kohaku continued, ending his introduction by flashing a _very_ fake, forced smile in the direction of the students. But to the people in this class, it didn't matter if the smile was real or not, because it has an impeccable vibe of charm in it. The girls started to squeal and scream; some even fainted. The boys were blushing, even the straight ones. Kazusa snickered as she saw the scene. Ah, she knew this was going to happen. Kohaku's pretty boy appearance allowed him to be liked by both girls and boys. She giggled slightly as she imagined what Chihiro's reaction would be when she sees him.

"..Y-Yes, thank you, Kawazoe-san." The teacher said after she calmed the pile of squealing girls. "Your seat will be right ther-"

A sharp sound of the door sliding opening had interrupted the teacher's words. Kohaku turned his head to the door and at the panting figure of a girl with brown hair. Her face couldn't be seen since she was practically supporting her upper body with her hands on her knees (effect of panting), so naturally her face would be facing the floor.

"..S-Sorry, I...I'm la-late… again-in…" the girl said between her panting breaths. The sound and pitch of the voice rang a bell in Kohaku's ears. He eyed the girl carefully as she started to stand up straight. Brown tresses tied up in a ponytail, bony figure, creamy skin, and those brown-grey eyes… It became pretty obvious on who she was. A slight giggle from Kazusa was heard as Kohaku came face to face with the girl who had lost her precious memories of himself, and his world.

..................

Chihiro panted as she apologized to the teacher for her lateness. Why was her classroom located on the school building's top floor, where you need to climb 124 steps of stairs to reach? Oh yes, she had been counting. Chihiro sucked in a large quantity of air and she let out the equal amount. Finally, she is now able to stand straight. But the first thing she saw as she raised up her face was nothing she could remember that existed in this classroom, at least, until now.

"A-Are you al-alright?" A strange boy was holding his hand out to her, stuttering as he asked her the question. Chihiro stared into those warm emerald green eyes and for a split second, something seemed to appear in her mind.

FLASH

"_You're not allowed here! Go back!"_

END FLASH

"Wha…?" Chihiro whispered as the flash in her mind ended. She stared at the boy before her and found out that he looked identical to the boy from the strange flash in her mind. Except… the boy from the flash felt much colder and much more distant… For a moment she couldn't comprehend what was going on.

"Ogino-san, hurry back to your seat," Chihiro snapped back into reality as the teacher called her name.

"Oh yes, this is Kawazoe-san, our new transfer student. Since you were _late_, you had missed his introduction." Chihiro winced at the teacher's emphasis on the word 'late'. That told her she'd be carrying double amount of homework today. But more importantly, the first sentence struck her with much more surprise. Kawazoe-san? Isn't that Kazusa's last name? Why does that boy have the same last name with Kazusa? Why did I have that strange flash? And why is that boy in it? Questions formed in Chihiro's mind as she slowly walked to her respective seat. Sitting down, she faced Kazusa with a face that clearly earns for answers. Kazusa said nothing and just gave her a reassuring smile as if to say: "After class. I'll tell you after class."

"Yes, very well." The teacher said, clearing her throat as she scribbled something into her clip board while making a tick at the same time. "Kawazoe-san, your seat is beside Fujiwara-san." Kohaku was still gazing at Chihiro when the teacher had assigned him his seat. He met her! But the emotions in his mind couldn't be categorized, for he did not know whether it was happy or sad. He had met her, but she doesn't remember him. And he wasn't really sure of what to do now. Kohaku sat down on his seat as he looked at the boy seated beside him. Thank god it was a boy. He really didn't get why the girls in this class were squealing and screaming awhile ago, but it scared him and he did not want to go anywhere near them.

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He stood motionlessly on the aged tree as he eyed the single classroom before him. He searched for the facial feature of the dragon-boy his master wishes to obtain. Deep, violet eyes moved slowly as they scanned the children-filled room. Thick, black hair swayed as a strong breeze blew, making the fresh, green leaves rustle as well. Thin lips stayed motionless even when he discovered the whereabouts of his little prey. Supporting himself from the strong winds that blew continuously in his direction, the boy laid his pale hand on the thick trunk of the tree.

His intense, cold eyes turned to a brown haired girl sitting beside the large windows. He eyed her for a few seconds, checking if this was the exact person he was looking for; it would really be troublesome if he ended up bringing the wrong person back. After making sure of the girl's identity, he had attempted to advert his gaze back to the dragon-boy. But instead of doing that, the female seated beside the brown haired girl caught his attention.

One of his thin, neat brows rose as he saw her long, blackish hair and gem-like emerald eyes. He bit his lower lip and frowned slightly at the sight. His cold, emotionless eyes couldn't help but show a slight thread of feeling, a feeling that's a combination of sadness, regret ,and a strange existence of joy (if that's possible). After a few seconds of gazing at the girl, he noticed his inexcusable behavior. He turned away and jumped off the tree, landing on the floor without a sound.

This was not was what he's supposed to be doing. His mission for today was already accomplished, and so he shouldn't be doing anything else that was unnecessary. He had pledged his loyalty to his master with a contract. He can't be going around, watching over the people from his past. The boy quickly left the school grounds, his eyes discarding the previous shown feelings, and regaining their emotionless look.

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Kazusa: And the chapter is finished!

Kohaku: -reaches out an arm- Ka-Ka..zusa... He-He-Help me-e.... -strangled by fangirls-

Kazusa: -giggles- Kohaku-san, I can't. I'm standing in for Eige-Chan right now.

Kohaku: ...N..Nooooo!!... -gets pulled away by numerous girls-

Kazusa: -ahem- Yes, now, please read and revi-

Eige-Chan: WHOO! Sleeping for an extra two hours really makes the difference~ -jumps up and down- I'm all FIRED UP NOW!!!

Kazusa: -sweatdrop- Ah... but Eige-Chan, the chapter is already finished.... -lightens up- You can do the read and review thingy if you want!

Eige-Chan:OOKAY~~! -ahem- pLeAsE rEaD aNd ReViEw EvErYoNe!!!!! -bows with Kazusa-


	8. Fate Prophesies

Eige-Chan: Yeay~! Chapter Eight is up!! (I don't own Spirited Away.)

Yubaba: -sigh- Again, you took more than a week to update.

Eige-Chan: -ignores- As you can see, I changed the title from 'Spirited Back' to 'Colors of Fate'. Because... well, I was planning the developments of the later parts of the story, and I found out that it has absolutly no connection to the title 'Spirited Back'. God, why did I even use that in the first place? -ahem- Anyway, from now on this story will be known as 'Colors of Fate'~

Readers: Stop rambling and get on with the story!!!

Eige-Chan: Alright, alright...goshes... Oh hey, I'd have to thank the reviewers first.

Reader: Fine. -crosses arms-

Eige-Chan: Thank you soo much, the reviewers for the last chapter, **PsychoKitty1991**, **Poterz007**, **-LIFEDEALWITHIT-**, **NyaniHenshi**, and **Anonymous** (obviously, the anonymous reviewer)!

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**Chapter Eight: Fate Prophesies **

Kohaku sighed softly as the teacher finally dismissed the class. He watched as the students started to leave their seats. The pin-drop silence that maintained perfectly until the teacher's leave was immediately corrupted into blasts of voices and laughter. He laid the pencil in the grasp of his hand on the table with his perfect posture, which he found out that most of the students didn't have. He noticed how most students are either slumping on their seats or lying on their tables as the class starts. He was probably one of the very few who occupied only two thirds of his chair, sat up straight, and faced his front, which was the chalkboard.

Kohaku peered over at his thin, gray, flipped-open notebook and studied the notes he had made for the class. This was the first class he had attended since his arrival at the school, which was the class right after homeroom; Mathematics.

The concept of how different symbols changed the value in different numbers was pretty fascinating to him, or rather; it was how the humans expressed that concept that fascinated him. In the spirit world, there were studies like these; studies where the value of a number was altered by symbols of different sorts. Mathematics was actually the same thing, just expressed in different way. Kohaku was aware of this subject when he was still in the spirit world… but he wasn't an expert in it, for most of his time was spent as Yubaba's magic apprentice. So he couldn't really say that he enjoyed this Mathematics class, since he wasn't exactly familiar with the subject. But… it wasn't so bad either, at least not as bad as he had pictured human studies to be.

Kohaku flipped the current notebook close as he traded it for another notebook in his desk that looked exactly the same, except that one had the words "World History" written on them instead of "Mathematics". As soon as he was settled for the next class, he eyed Chihiro from the corner of his eye and smiled slightly to himself as he saw her, talking with Kazusa with a big smile hung across her face. He realized that she was having a good time in this world, and that made him happy. She was his most treasured friend and he could want for nothing more than her happiness and safety.

..................

"So… Kohaku is your cousin brother… but he isn't blood related to you?" Chihiro questioned Kazusa, who just finished a long, confusing explanation of her relationship with Kohaku to end up hearing a simple, single-sentenced summary from Chihiro.

"Exactly," Kazusa grinned, "He is the grandson of the priest in the temple, so that would make him my non-blood-related cousin, isn't so?" Kazusa smiled as Chihiro slowly organized the information in her brain. She had planned out everything perfectly yesterday. Kohaku would maintain his position as her cousin brother who had no blood relation with her. She took advantage of the fact that she wasn't a true family of the temple, and since Chihiro knew about it, this whole lie turned to be even more convincing. Kazusa was actually pretty surprised that she was such a good liar. The whole thing seemed so true coming from her mouth, through her words, that even she, herself, started to believe it for a little bit.

Chihiro frowned slightly as she showed a slight attempt to pout. She didn't really want to believe Kazusa's words, but her mind seemed to work on its own and took all information as the truth. She looked at Kazusa's smile. It was a normal smile, with nothing hidden. She then looked behind the girl's shoulders, at Kohaku, who was fiddling with his desk, trying to get a notebook out of it. He seemed pretty normal too. Chihiro sighed in defeat as she realized she had just convinced herself that Kazusa was right.

"Speaking of which…" Kazusa said, sensing that Chihiro had accepted the idea, "What's your impression of Kohaku?" Chihiro twitched as she heard the girl's question. Those words triggered her memory as she remembered the strange stage of trance that she had been in while ago. The slightly intimidating _flash_ that ran through her mind in a matter of seconds had contained the image of Kohaku. Chihiro had absolutely no idea of what might be the cause of this occurrence, and being the girl she was, she didn't want to find out either. She just wished for it to never happen again, so she could forget about it and continue her imperfect life with her imperfect self.

Anyway, back to Kazusa's question. What was her impression of Kohaku? Chihiro thought about the first contact she had with the boy… She pictured the greenish black hair that formed a frame around his smooth, boyish face and those glassy, emerald eyes that seemed to look straight through her heart. She mused about his eyes for a while, debating with herself of the emotion that was expressed in them. Seas of a beautiful green color circled the small black pupil in the almond shaped orb. They had a fierce, fiery look in them, as well as an icy cold feeling. But in between those two polar-opposite expressions, a small existence of kindness and concern was present in the depths of those intense eyes…

Chihiro raised a brow as she noticed what she had been thinking about. She actually knew this much about that boy… Well, about his eyes, to be more exact. His whole presence felt extremely familiar and comforting to her, for some god-knows-what reason. But despite the warmth and comfort that she felt, there was also a small portion in him that was filled with misery and unknown expressions that couldn't be described by words…

She peered over Kazusa's shoulder to take a small peek at the boy. He was calmly reading one of his notebooks with a posture that was… lets say, rare in this class. She let out a small smile as turned back to Kazusa, whose eyes were gleaming with eager to know her answer. Chihiro's smile widened as her eyes shared the same glistening gleam with her best friend.

"I think that Kohaku is…" Chihiro made a pause as she searched for the appropriate word to describe the boy while the bell rang to remind the students of the next class, "…a complicated person... I guess."

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Yubaba scowled at the piece of paper she was holding while she reached for a ball-point pen in her box of jewels. She slammed the paper on her wooden table as she hurriedly scribbled something on it with her metallic pen. The witch continued to frown and growl as she stared at the information written in black-and-white. The profit of the bathhouse was slowly and gradually getting lesser and lesser everything day. Yubaba looked at the numbers that stated the income of the bathhouse. It hasn't changed, the income the came from the guests neither went up or down. She looked at the other row of numbers that showed the pricing of the herbs, food, shampoos, and etc. that she bought for the bathhouse. That hasn't changed either.

Yubaba slumped back on her seat. Why did the profit go down if the income and pricing didn't change? She stared into the blazing fireplace that lit the carpeted floors of her room. The three, green, bearded heads were resting near the source of warmth. The witch peered over at her right side as her jewel box met her eye. A vein popped inside her head. She quickly sat up and grabbed the opened box so she could take a better look in it.

A long pearl necklace... a sapphire diamond… a green gem laced with silver… varies of other small pieces of jewels… and small sacks of gold. It had the exact same contents since that dragon boy left five days ago. It hit her. That was the reason of the profit sliding down. When Kohaku was still here, every single day there would be new pieces of gems, jewels, and treasures that he _brought _(stole) from other places, and that was the thing that maintained the profit of the bathhouse. Now that he's gone, there was no one in charge of doing these things. So even if the guests' payments are unchanged, the earned amounts of the bathhouse will naturally side down.

Yubaba sneered at her pathetic abilities that couldn't even take care of her own bathhouse without the help of that boy. She looked at the piece of paper again. The profit wasn't too less… it was still enough to support the bathhouse and the lives of the people who work in it. It was just slowly, very slowly, sliding down a little bit every single day. In Yubaba's predictions, with the profit going down at this rate, it could still make the bathhouse last for another few years. And within that time, she will have to do something about it. But now, she decided to plainly focus on getting more customers and findings herbs and shampoos that were cheaper than the ones they are using now. At least that would hold the bathhouse for a little while longer…

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"Chihiro-chan!" School finally ended when Chihiro heard a girl's voice shout her name. She turned around to see Kazusa, who had her bags packed and ready, waving at her at the front door of her classroom. "Let's go home together!" Chihiro grinned at the girl and nodded as she turned back to her unpacked pile of extra homework that her teacher gave her. She sighed as she hurriedly stuffed those books and papers in her school bag. She is never, ever going to be late again. These extra works are going to kill her… Chihiro quickly grabbed her packed bag and ran towards the sliding door where Kazusa is standing.

"Sorry I made you wait for a while," Chihiro smiled at Kazusa and started to walk towards the stairs. She stopped as she heard only one pair of footsteps, which was her own. She turned to her back to see Kazusa still standing at the front of their classroom. Chihiro blinked a couple times at her and asked, "Aren't we… going home?" The other girl simply gave her a smile in response. Right after then, a person emerged from the classroom. Chihiro raised a brow as she walked back to where Kazusa was standing. She blinked as she saw that the person was Kohaku.

"Kohaku-san will be coming with us," Kazusa grinned at Chihiro as she saw the expression on her face. It was somewhat a cross between 'Uhh… sure.' and 'Great!'

Chihiro looked at Kazusa's smiling face with the corner of her eye. She wasn't really too surprised to hear such a thing, since Kohaku is most-likely living in the temple with her (he is the grandson of the priest, isn't he) and so it would be natural for them to go home together. But she wasn't exactly… thrilled to have Kohaku walk her home. Not that she had a problem with him. Actually, she was pretty glad that this chance came up for her to get to know him a bit more. It was the other people that made her slightly nervous…

Kazusa and Kohaku were both pretty popular, in this class, at least. And since Chihiro was a girl, the boys that fancied Kazusa didn't have a problem with her hanging around Kazusa everyday. But for Kohaku, that was another story. The females who were… attracted to him might not be happy if she was seen with him too often. But then again, if she was with Kazusa, who was Kohaku's cousin and so clearly couldn't have anything going on between each other, that might make matters a little better…

"You must be Chihiro," Kohaku said to the girl before him, showing a sort of half-smile,"I think I haven't introduced myself properly yet… I'm Kawazoe Kohaku," He tried his best not to show the small feeling of dissatisfaction in him. He had known her since Chihiro was little, and now he has to introduce himself before her like they've met for the first time in their lives? Well, he knew that if he started to act all familiar with her right now, it would freak her out and she will remain suspicious of him until the end of her life, and he did not want that to happen.

Kohaku had thought about it for the whole day today. The best thing to do now is to create a new bond of friendship between them, and at the same time, try to revive Chihiro's locked-away memories of the spirit world. But he also had to do it in a reasonable pace, since he will only have three years in the human world. Turning into friends with Chihiro again shouldn't be hard at all, with her personality and his past with her, he could say that this wasn't even a challenge. The difficult part was probably bringing her memories back. Kohaku knew nothing about unlocking lost memories, so on that part, he will have to do some research.

"Nice to meet you," Chihiro said, showing him a small smile. She wanted to laugh at the fact that Kohaku's language was just as polite as Kazusa's. Well, they _are_ cousins, so it shouldn't be surprising if their style of talking is similar. Anyway, something was bothering her. Chihiro knew well that a lot of things made her feel a strange vibe of familiarity, but this conversation seemed way too familiar. As if the exact thing had happened before… Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to forget about it. She hurriedly convinced herself that it was nothing but déjà vu. The last thing she wanted was to have a strange feel of familiarity to accompany that strange flash in the morning…

"Well then, if you two are done," Kazusa said, grinning as she suddenly pulled the two other people with her to the stairs, "Let's go!" Almost falling face-flat on the floor, Kohaku and Chihiro stumbled as they walked with their shirts attached to Kazusa's (strangely) strong grip. The two let out a small chuckle as they met each others' gaze while Kazusa continued to drag them along the long, long stairs…

..................

The trio stopped their footsteps as they reached their destination, well, Chihiro's destination. Along the road to her small, blue-roofed house, Chihiro had learnt many things about Kohaku; his hobbies, likes, dislikes, and such. She found all his answers to be pretty amusing, like when he answered 'I write with a pen' when she asked him if he used his left hand or right hand to write. She also felt that he him was a very composed person, showing only enough emotions and expressions, just like Kazusa. Well, maybe Kazusa was a little less calm sometimes, but that wasn't the point.

"Thanks," Chihiro gave the two a smile, "For walking me home." Kazusa flashed a big grin back while Kohaku showed a small nod and a mild smile. Chihiro turned her back on them as she prepared to go back into her little, shack-like house.

"Chihiro-chan?" Kazusa called out to the brunette as she was just about to head back. She smiled as she walked closer to Chihiro while pulling out a small, brown envelope from her school bag. "This is the fortune results," Kazusa told the other girl as she handed the envelope to her, "Don't open it until Kohaku and I are gone, okay?"

Chihiro nodded as she slowly took the brown package from Kauzsa. That was the results of the fortune she had on Wednesday evening… She had almost forgotten about the fortune since she had a good, night's sleep. And now that she remembered, Kazusa did promise to hand the complete analysis to her on Friday.

Chihiro waved at the other girl as she skipped back to where Kohaku was. She watched as the two walked back home, then diverted her gaze on the envelope in her hands. She eyed the wrapped object intensely as she passed her mother, where she let a small, absentminded 'I'm home' escape her lips. And since her mother was busy cooking, she gave Chihiro an equally absentminded reply which the girl didn't hear.

Chihiro walked up the wooden stairs and opened the creaky door to her room. She placed her school bag on her desk and changed out of her uniform and into her casual clothes. She dropped herself on her bed and held the brown, rectangular object in the air. Chihiro remembered the strange way Kazusa had been acting after the fortune and the flash that contained Kohaku's image she had this morning. She wondered if the flash had anything to do with her fortune. And if all of this had something to do with the empty and familiar feelings she gets on random times whenever something in particular happens.

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Brilliant shades of every color imaginable flowed in the form of small streams across the white, universe-like space. Outlines of blank triangular shapes of all sizes and angles cover the only surface that could be seen in this space; the floor. Miniature, bubble-like objects flew around the room, bouncing on the unseen walls they touched. Between all the commotion with the visible things that had neither life nor mind, a large, oval shaped figure could be seen. A tall, slim woman stood before the oval figure as she looked into its glassy surface.

The clear color of the oval shifted slowly and turned into other, different colors that had no particular shape. After another few seconds or so, the blobs of colors slowly gained a more solid feel to them as they now show a vision of three children. The woman's mouth formed into a small smirk as she discovered the dragon boy's whereabouts. As expected, showing images of the human world isn't challenging at all.

She looked at the two other children. There was a petite girl with grey-brown eyes and brown hair that was tied in a childish ponytail. The woman found that she was the girl that gave Kohaku back his name… uhh, what's her name... Chihiro? Judging from the glimmering purple hair band that she tied her hair with, it was easy to see. My, she'd recognize Zeniba's handiwork anywhere. The woman smiled as she remembered that that was the girl that sent the river spirit flying into the human world without a second thought. She must be an important person to him.

Turning her focus to the other child, the woman's crystal-like, fiery eyes twinkled with amusement the moment she laid her eyes on the girl. She had emerald green eyes that went perfectly well her grazing smile and smooth, almost-black hair. The woman smirked. Who'd ever think that she would find this girl here, and more importantly, with Kohaku and Chihiro?

She smiled as the images of the children started to fade away. The woman's curly, blonde locks swayed as she turned away from the oval figure. She reached for a nearby bubble-like object with her long, slender fingers and brought it before her small face. Putting pressure on the fragile looking, transparent surface of the bubble, she popped it with her left hand and giggled afterwards. Her glassy orbs shone with an excited, almost intimidating, ruby color. She _knew_ that things are going to get interesting.

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Eige-Chan: So, so?! What do you think? -watery puppy eyes-

Kazusa & Chihiro: -grins- It's great!

Kohaku: -nods in approvement- Not bad.

Yubaba: It's horrible.

Eige-Chan: -glare- You try writing it then!

Yubaba: -snorts- My bathhouse could be maintained just fine enough without that boy! -points viciously to that part in the story- GIRL, MY BATHHOUSE WOULD NEVER CLOSE DOWN!!!

Eige-Chan: I NEVER SAID IT WOULD CLOSE DOWN! Besides, this is my story and I can do whatever I want with it!!!

Zeniba: While those two are arguing, please make sure that you press the button at the bottom of the page that says 'Review this Story / Chapter'..... No, not that one, the one with green words and a gray background.... Ah, exactly, that's the one.


	9. Fate Endeavors

Eige-Chan: Chapter Nine is up~! (I don't own Spirited Away.)

Rikuto-sama: Hmm... Do I happen to appear in this chapter? You haven't put me in since chapter six... -glare-

Eige-Chan: -whistles- Nooope~ You're not coming in until the next one. -checks story- Ah, but your... purple-eyed boy is in here!

Rikuto-sama: Purple-eyed boy? -thinks- AH! You mean */?^$)+ -muffled voice-

Eige-Chan: SHHHHHHHHH! His name isn't revealed yet! -stuffs cookies in his mouth-

Riktuto-sama: -chokes and dies-

Eige-Chan: -grin- Ah! And thanks to the reviewers for the last chapter, **Anonymous** and **Clarrolx**!

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**C****hapter Nine: Fate Endeavors **

Kohaku left his room slowly, closing the paper-made sliding door behind him and slipping into his dried-straw-slippers. He sighed at the view of the empty, spacey temple as he began to walk towards its front exist.

Since the early morning, Kazusa was nowhere to be found, and he hadn't caught sight of the priest either. But he wasn't exactly worried… not that he didn't care about them. It's just that he was pretty sure that the priest should be fine wherever he is, since he is a pretty healthy and energetic man for his age. He might just be training in a rushing waterfall on some mountain or something. And for Kazusa, she's a human girl who's only ten years old… or was it eleven, well, it doesn't matter. Anyone her age couldn't be doing anything dangerous or life-threatening. Besides, the temple was unexceptionally large, and he hadn't really searched the whole area yet, so he couldn't be exactly sure whether those two are in here or not.

Anyway, since he had already finished all the work that was distributed to him, he happened to have a day of free time on his hands. He _was_ planning to discuss the matter about Chihiro's memories with Kazusa, but since she isn't here, it can't be helped. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, he doubted that he could accomplish any obvious progress on that subject alone. So in replacement, he decided to take a walk around his neighborhood; to explore the human world around him. Besides, it should be good for him, right? To get to know his surroundings… so that he doesn't get in random trouble because of ignorance of the human world's environment, rituals, habits and such.

Kohaku looked up at the cloudy sky as he walked along the cemented-road that connects to the temple's front exist. The sky in the human world is much grayer compared to the spirit world's… and the condition of the air isn't much better either. He frowned at the sight of several aluminum cans that were carelessly left in the middle of the sidewalk. The boy reached out and grabbed those cans, throwing them into a nearby recycle bin. He watched as a silver, four-wheeled vehicle drove past him in a moderately fast speed. As far as he could remember… that moving chunk of metal was a so-called car, invention of the humans. He coughed slightly as he accidentally breathed in some of the relatively-black gas that came out of the mechanic vehicle's rear end.

After wandering about for several more minutes, Kohaku had discovered some things about this neighborhood. This place was more of a suburban area, rather than the crowded, noisy, skyscraper-filled cities that exist elsewhere in the human world. As far as what he had seen, there was a school, which was the school they were in, numbers of small shops, a supermarket, café-like parlors and restaurants, and a few other buildings that were built for entertainment purposes. And the rest were just normal, home residence for the people.

Kohaku continued to walk around as he unintentionally brought himself to a certain building. The boy blinked as he saw the small, blue-roofed architecture before him; Chihiro's house.

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Chihiro sighed as she made slow, continuous clicks on the tip her mechanical pencil. She peered over her left from the corner of her eye and glared at the collection of textbooks, notebooks, and worksheets that were piled up on her desk. She let out another frustrated breath escape her mouth. Today was the first day of the weekend; Saturday, and she should be doing something fun instead of burying her head into these extra homework. The girl lazily put the weight of her head on her hand, which was supported by her elbow on the desk.

"Even if I didn't have this homework…" Chihiro murmured as she stared out from the only window in her room, "…Mom and Dad are too busy to take me out to have fun…" Her father, who was working as a business man in the closet urban area, had a very important meeting today that had something to do with the 'future of the company and future of our family', as she had heard from him the night before. Her mother was your typical housewife. She had to do laundry, cooking, cleaning, and continue sorting out the things they brought from the moving. She wasn't in the house right now, so she should be shopping in the supermarket.

Chihiro turned her gaze away from her window and back to her desk. Her hand-lidded eyes landed on something other than her enormous pile of books; a brown envelope. She grabbed the package that was lying in an isolated area on her desk. This was the fortune results that Kazusa had given her yesterday. Chihiro hadn't opened it, even though Kazusa said that she could. She just can't seem to have the guts to tear out that piece of paper in there. Since she had moved here, there were strange feelings of uncertainty and familiarity that flowed through her mind. And there was also that flash… She can't help but be slightly intimidated by the possible connections that those things might have with her fortune. The girl stared at the thin, paper envelope and let out another sigh as she put it back to its special spot on her table.

That was just about the time that Chihiro heard something that resembled rustling of leaves at her window. Feeling a bit suspicious, she walked over and pulled the window open as she stuck her head out, looking at the right side and then the left. Nothing was there.

"Must be my imagination…" Chihiro said to herself as she retreated back to her desk, leaving the window open for some fresh air. Oh how wrong that decision was.

Just as the girl was about to sit back down her chair, a sharp sound of glass-scraping was heard behind her. Chihiro whipped her head back to see a dark figure entering her room from the opened window. Her body and mind stopped working, probably because of fright and surprise. She didn't move. She didn't speak. All she did was stare at the person with her widened eyes. She couldn't tell who he was or what he looked like, since the shadows were blocking him, but her instinct tells her that he isn't someone that she know. Her petite, small-framed body shook with fear as he slowly approached her.

A couple of strangled, broken wails escaped her lips as she felt a sudden formation of pain at her stomach. Her senses started to disappear. Her consciousness was fading. And the last thing she could recall before passing out, was a pair of still, violet eyes staring into her very soul.

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Kohaku smiled as he saw the blue building which he recognized to be Chihiro's house. He approached the structure as he admired its surroundings. Her house was very close to a forest, and there were small fields and meadows around it. Of course, there were also other buildings around, but they were all pretty apart from each other, holding quite a distance. He decided to visit Chihiro, since he had so much time to kill. Besides, he wanted to see her too.

He walked closer to the front door, ready to knock on it. Just as his hand was about to make contact with the wooden surface, a soft scream of a female was heard from the inside of that building. Kohaku tensed up. What was going on? Was that Chihiro? He knocked on the door for a couple of times. Another scream, this time followed by a _thud_ sound of something or someone falling on the ground.

That's it. He slammed open the door. Although he knew that this was probably not the best of manners, entering someone's house without their permission, but it was an emergency. He looked around the first floor; checking if there was anyone and if the source of the voice was from there. Nope, not a single person in the there. He then ran up the wooden stairs, to the second floor. He opened the first door to the left, ignoring the creaky sound that it made. As he rampaged into the room, his emerald eyes widened at the sight before him.

Chihiro was there. She was clearly unconscious, her brown hair falling onto her now-pale face. More importantly, her small body was draped and carried on someone's shoulders and supported by that someone's arm. The person had an all-black attire covering his body, and his hair was also the same midnight black, but Kohaku couldn't see his face from the angle where he was standing. The dragon's breath quickened as the person started to turn his face to his direction.

The first thing he saw was his pale skin and a mask made of black cloth that covered his nose and mouth. But those weren't the traits that sent shivers through his body. It was the curved, silver dagger that hanged on the boy's right hip, and the pair of dull, violet eyes that made him twitch.

FLASHBACK

"I saw a boy, who doesn't look much older than you; around twelve to thirteen years old."

"His eyes were a dark shade of purple, or violet to be more exact. It was a pair of cold, stone-like eyes with no emotion whatsoever…"

"He was holding a knife, a dagger, actually. It had a glistening shade of cyan-silver."

"And behind the spot he stood on, was you, Haku, sprawled across the ground and drowned in a pool of your own blood."

END FLASHBACK

The words of Zeniba flashed across his mind almost instantly as he remembered his first encounter with this boy. Kohaku frowned and growled, his eyes showing a fierce, almost-angry expression. That was the boy who had attacked him when he was still in the spirit world. And now he's aiming for Chihiro.

This is bad. This is really bad. That boy was skilled, and Kohaku knew that perfectly. He could kill the girl in a second, and it'll be as easy as breaking a toothpick. The only thought that occupied his mind was to get Chihiro away from that purple-eyed, assassin-like _creature_. But as much as he needed that to happen, he couldn't risk attacking him either. That 'creature' had Chihiro on his hands, and god knows what he is going to do with the brunette if Kohaku acted on his own carelessly. He had to save Chihiro, but he cannot lay his hands on him. Oh great.

The boy just stared at Kohaku with his violet orbs. And after a few minutes of silent eye-contact with each other, the he turned away from the dragon as he climbed out the window, completely ignoring the existence of the other boy. Slightly surprised by his actions, Kohaku followed him, jumping out the window with almost the same speed at the same time. But he seemed to forget that he was in a _normal_ human body, and normal humans don't jump down from the second floor and land on the ground without anything wrong with them.

Kohaku winced at a sudden streak of pain that originated from one of his ankles as he landed on the floor. Hell, it really hurts. He eyed the boy before him as he watched him run into the woods, with the human girl still carried on his shoulders. That sight became a small stimulation for Kohaku, watching his most treasured person carried away by another. He was not going to let him get away with this and it didn't matter if he had sprained his leg or broke a bone. He quickly caught hold of himself, bracing the pain and following the other person into the forest with the fastest speed he could muster up.

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Kazusa wiped the beads of sweat off her face and sighed at herself. Today wasn't exactly a sunny day, but it was pretty humid, thus causing the air to grow hotter and hotter by the moment. The white-and-red Miko costume that she always wears seemed unusually heavy and thick, probably because of the sweat that allowed it to stick on her skin. She grabbed the bottle of water that was standing on the largest rock to her left and drank from it hungrily. Satisfying her thirst, she put it back to its original position and traded the plastic container for a long bow that was seated beside it.

The wooden material had a smooth surface, but at the same time, blisters, scratches, and other small flaws could be seen from it. It's soothing, woody color matched the arrow that Kazusa pulled out from the arrow bag behind her back. The sharp, stone-made arrowhead shone in the glistening day light as she raised her bow, aiming at the center point of a random tree. The stretching sound of the bow string ran in her ear as she prepared to release the energy. And with a _swish_, she let go of the arrow, feeling the disappearance of its feathery ends on her fingers and allowing it to fly freely in the direction she wants it to. _Pluck_. Bullseye.

Kazusa smiled at the result. Archery was always one of her strengths, and she had learned it since she was little, about the same time when she had started performing fortunes. The girl walked towards the tree that she had shot and pulled out the brown arrow.

"Speaking of which," Kazusa said as she pulled out another arrow from her back, preparing to aim and shoot again, "Did I forget to tell Kohaku where I went…?" She asked herself, with a tone that contained slight hint of sarcasm. She let go of the arrow in her hands, which landed on the same spot as the previous one. Right on target, again. She went forward to pull out the arrow as she repeated the same movements over and over again. Practicing archery in the woods had already become a habit of hers, and she came here almost everyday, whether for archery practice or just for a walk.

This forest she was in was one of the biggest forests around the neighborhood. It surrounds the temple, and at the same time connects it with the rest of the town and a small part of the residence area. It was the place where she had met her first friend for the first time. This was also the forest where she had found Kohaku on that rainy day. And as far as she remembered, the abandoned amusement-park-tunnel that Chihiro had went before was also somewhere in here. Kazusa smiled and frowned as she thought about the strange way of everything that's quite _important_ happening in these forests. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

Just then, a distant sound of quick footsteps approaching disrupted her thoughts and caught her attention…

..................

Kohaku gasped under his panting breath as he tried his best to keep up with the boy's running. The dragon can hardly recall the number of minutes that had passed since he ran after him into the forest. Chihiro was still unconscious and she was still draped over that… that kidnapper's shoulders like a dead body. Kohaku groaned softly as a streak of pain was felt on his ankle. His leg's condition was probably worse now than the time when he had just sprained… no, broke it. Yes, he was positive that he had broken it since a sprain couldn't possibly hurt so much. He can't very much feel his leg at the moment, but somehow, he was still running… well, limping and running at the same time.

Kohaku eyed the shadowed boy who was running in front of him and raised a brow. Somehow he seemed much more… taller… or was it wider…? And his clothes were… not black anymore? The dragon bit his lower lip in realization and frustration. That wasn't a good sign… his vision was becoming hazy, and his ears can't really hear that much of sounds either. So this is what happens when you push a human body to its limit… Well, it can't be helped, since this is just a normal, everyday human body…

No. That's not right. He can't afford to pass out now. If he did, then what is going to happen to Chihiro? God-knows why that boy was capturing her, but he was sure that it wasn't for anything good. She might lose her life! She's only te-

Hey… Then again, even if he _didn't_ pass out, he wasn't doing any good with saving the girl either. He had a broken leg. It was already pretty hard on him when he was just running; let alone saving Chihiro. And on top of that, he was in a weak human body; he can't possibly fight in this thing! Hell, he can't even fight when he was still a spirit… his martial skills were horrible. Yes, of course he had his magic, but in this human form, he didn't know if he could still use them or not. If he could just transform into a dragon now… that'll be real convenient in this situation. Fly over, get Chihiro, and fly away. Yea, that might be a perfect plan! Except he can't transform into a dragon. Ugh.

Kohaku panted and sweated continuously as he ran through the woods. His human body really isn't supporting him… He could feel his limbs getting weaker and weaker by the second. That was about the time when he saw a rather familiar figure standing near the violet-eyed kidnapper. He squinted his almond-shaped eyes, trying his best to see who that was.

Long black hair… red-and-white… green eyes. Kazusa…? Oh dear… what if she got caught too? One more person held captive, not very good isn't it?

The dragon shot a glare at the boy in front of him and blinked slightly at what he saw. The boy stopped running and he was staring at Kazusa. For a moment there his eyes were…. Black? Kohaku ignored that sight, for must be his hazy vision's problem. Besides, there were other things he should be worrying about. He looked at Kazusa. She was staring back at the boy, and her face didn't seem so well. She must have recognized that the body on the boy's shoulders was Chihiro. The boy was walking closer to her. The river spirit twitched. No… Kazusa can't be caught too. She had to run away… She doesn't stand a chance against that boy.

"Run…" Kohaku choked out the words. A sudden burst of pain made him groan and wince. He braced himself as he knelt down on the moist ground. He could hear his heart pounding in his ear. He could feel his rapid inhale and exhale movements. He's not going to last very much longer. He opened his eyes and saw that apparently, Kazusa hadn't heard him; she probably didn't even know he was here. She was standing there like a stone statue, and the boy was only steps away from her. Tch.

"Kazusa!" Kohaku used most of the strength he had left to shout. Thankfully, that had caught the girl's attention, "Run a-...way…!" The last word trailed off as he felt his consciousness dropping. He cursed under his breath as his vision began to dwindle. He didn't like being so weak, so weak that he can't even protect his friends… A shot of pain sent shivers through his spine. And right before his mind had stopped working, his body had already collapsed…

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Eige-Chan: And that's the end of the chapter!!

Kohaku: -stare- I don't think I would break a leg if I jump just from the second floor... Am I really that useless...?

Eige-Chan: -pats shoulder- In your human body, you are that useless.

Kohaku:...

Eige-Chan: Ah... Looking at this chapter gives me the idea of killing someone off later... -evil grin-

Chihiro: -shiver- Who....?

Eige-Chan: -takes out a chainsaw- MUAHAHAHA, I think it's one of the good guys -activates chainsaw-

So-called 'Good Guys': -gulp-

Eige-Chan: -chuckle- Haha, just joking~ -puts away chainsaw- But I'm really thinking of killing one of the protagonists of this story.... Hmm... Give me your opinion? -smile- Read and Review Pleeeeeeeease~!!!


	10. Fate Devises

Eige-Chan: Chapter Ten is up!! (I do not own Spirited Away.) Aaaaand~! Colors of Fate has finally reached 10 chapters! -claps-

Chihiro & Kazusa: Banzai~! Banzai~! -fireworks-

Kohaku:... Is there really a need to celebrate over this small matter...?

Eige-Chan: -grin- Yes there is! Ah. Right~

To **Anonymous**: Yea... maybe you're right. Killing the good guys might not be such a good idea after all~ Haha, I will think about it. Thanks for your opinion! (And for always reviewing~)

Eige-Chan: Okie~! Now that we're settled, I give a big THANK YOU to the reviewers of the last chapter, **FireGoddess101**, **XxCrazyXGirlxX**, **Anonymous**, and my BFF **Pammy**~! -ahem- On with the story~!

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**C****hapter ****Ten****: Fate ****Devises **

_He's stood __alone __in the darkness… He could hear footsteps echoing in this pitch-black space… Where is he? Why is he here? He couldn't remember anything…_

_A __woman's__ voice called out__ to him._

_He turned around frantically, childish features forming into a __scared, confused __expression. _

_The __woman spoke again__, __her voice __sounding a little softer than the last time she __did._

_He frowned. __He was sure __that there was a __voice, but he couldn't see anyone. He tried to talk, he tried to shout. He moved his lips, but no sound came out.__He started to run, but everything that's surrounding him stayed the same no matter how far he ran. Everything was still the same; dark and empty._

_He stopped running as he heard the woman's voice again. But this time, he couldn't understand the things that she said. She repeated the same phrase for a number of times, but he still couldn't comprehend the information. Slowly, the voice started to fade away, leaving him in this wide, pitch-black world. He desperately tried to shout, to yell for help. But no matter how his moved his mouth, no sound was produced._

_A searing feel of pain ran through his veins as he was forcefully controlled to kneel down. He held his sides and shut closed his eyes, bracing himself from the strong impact._

"-aku-san… Kohaku-san…!"

Kohaku opened his eyes, cold sweat tricking down his face. What was that awhile ago? A dream? He noticed the continuous speaking of his name and turned his head over at the voice that woke him up. The first thing he saw was Kazusa's big, emerald eyes staring at him with a relieved look hung across her face. He looked past her and saw a large collection of trees and rocks. The dragon raised a brow. What was he doing here, sleeping in a forest? And why in the world was Kazusa here?

FLASHBACK; A FEW HOURS AGO

"Run…" Kohaku choked out the words. A sudden burst of pain made him groan and wince. He braced himself as he knelt down on the moist ground.

"Kazusa!" Kohaku used most of the strength he had left to shout. Thankfully, that had caught the girl's attention, "Run a-...way…!" The last word trailed off as he felt his consciousness dropping. He cursed under his breath as his vision began to dwindle. He didn't like being so weak, so weak that he can't even protect the ones that he treasured… A shot of pain sent shivers through his spine. And right before his mind had stopped working, his body had already collapsed…

END FLASHBACK

The incident flashed across Kohaku's mind almost instantly, bringing the answers of his question to him. He immediately sat up, giving Kazusa a small fright with his swift movements.

"What happened afterwards? Where is Chihiro?" Kohaku asked rapidly with a moderately-loud voice, more questions forming in his mind as he continued. "Are you alright? And wh-" His continuous questioning got cut off by Kazusa as she put a hand over his mouth.

"I'm fine… but if you speak with such a loud voice, Chihiro-chan would wake up." The girl said with a small smile. Kazusa lowered her hand that was on his mouth as she pointed at a long, old log behind them. Kohaku turned his head over and saw Chihiro, lying peacefully on the wooden figure. She seemed more like sleeping rather than unconscious. The river spirit blinked as he saw the scene.

"...What happened?" Kohaku asked, using a much softer voice as instructed. He was definitely much more calm and relieved now, knowing that no harm was done. Thank god that the two of them were alright, but it did seem slightly strange for them to be fine. There should be a reason for that violet-eyed boy to knock Chihiro out and carry her off somewhere. And for that reason, he shouldn't be able to hand the girl over that simply, and Kazusa shouldn't be able to do anything that would let him give up either. This is strange, the whole situation is.

"What do you mean?" Kazusa replied, standing up from her sitting position as she walked over to a large stone. She picked up the half-filled, plastic bottle and opened the lid.

"That guy," Kohaku said as he remained in his sitting position on the relatively-moist ground of the forest, "How has he come to… return Chihiro? Isn't he supposed to be kidnapping her?" He tried to put the question as non-offensive as he could. After all, he didn't want to sound like as if their well-being was a bad thing.

"Ahh…" Kazusa said after she finished drinking the rest of the transparent liquid in the bottle. Putting the empty container back on the rock, she turned around and with a bright smile on her face, she cheerfully said, "I shot him."

...

....

.....

What?

Kazusa laughed as she saw the surprised and confused look on the boy's face. Even though he is two years older than her, she sure liked to make fun of him. She walked towards the boy and sat back down on the floor. Kohaku watched as she pulled out a wooden bow and a collection of arrows that were contained in a cloth-made bag. He didn't know that she knew archery. Well then, those must be the instruments she used for shooting tha-

"But I missed, actually." Kohaku's thoughts were immediately interrupted by Kazusa. Missed? Oh, well… that should be in predictions. That assassin-like boy _is_ a skilled person who was most-likely not even human. Of course she would miss. No matter how polished Kazusa's skills in archery are, she is, in the end, a mere human. In fact, if she hadn't missed, it would definitely be _embarrassing_ for him. He is a river spirit, a dragon, and a class A magic apprentice and he had got cut up by that boy while he was still in his original (i.e.: non-human) form. If Kazusa, a human girl who was younger than him, had successfully beaten the guy… well, that'll surely provide a sufficient amount of shame for him.

Anyway, since it had been established that the boy had ducked Kazusa's arrows. That would bring the doubts back. If he wasn't threatened by any military force possible, then why did he spare the girls? Kohaku frowned at the thought. That boy didn't look like a person who would let go anyone's lives if those lives where needed. Sensing his unease, Kazusa quickly explained.

"Well, after you collapsed…"

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He sighed as he removed the black cloth that had covered half of his face. Really, these mask things made it so hard for him to breathe. No wonder he had ran in such a slow speed in the forest. He could have moved about three times faster if it wasn't for the lack of air caused by the mask. But Rikuto-sama had said that it would be troublesome if his face was shown. Well then, it cannot be helped. He would have to move three times slower than his normal speed in this world. Besides, that Kohaku doesn't seem to have his magic or his sense of agility in that human body of his either. That'll keep them in the same circumstances for now.

He stripped off the silver dagger that was hung on his right hip and stared at it for a number seconds. He rolled it over on his hand, admiring the glistening color that it showed once it was exposed to the sunlight. That reminded him of the incident awhile ago. He blinked twice with his emotionless eyes as he remembered what had happened.

FLASHBACK; SEVERAL HOURS AGO

"Kazusa! Run a-...way…!"

He raised a brow as he heard a raspy shout from behind his back. He turned around just in time to see the dragon collapse.

"K-Kohaku-san…?" He whipped his head back to the girl before him as she called the river spirit's name. He stared at her for the moment, watching the worried expression on her face.

After a few seconds, she turned her attention and her emerald eyes at him. He didn't even budge when he saw the look that she was giving him. The look of fright and confusion when she saw the figure of a brunette that was draped over his shoulders. And that look that slowly morphed into anger as she realized the current situation. His cold, _black_ eyes did nothing but stare.

"Who are you?" She asked forcefully, her grip on the wooden bow in her hands tightening as she said so, "What did you to Chihiro-chan and Kohaku-san?"

His half-lidded eyes lazily closed and opened as he slowly reached for the unconscious girl on himself. The Miko twitched as she watched him remove Chihiro from his shoulders and unto the ground in a sitting position, laying her back on a tree to support her figure from falling. Making sure that the brunette was secured, he adjusted the angle of her body slightly. His masked, pale face showed no existence of emotion or expression; and yet, the eyes of the girl before him were shining with large quantities of anger, a percentage of worry, and a small trace offear.

"Don't touch Chihiro-chan!" she said, pulling a stone-headed arrow from her back. Setting it up on her long bow, she aimed the wooden piece at him. Oh how brave.

He stopped moving at the comment, but it was clear that even if he didn't listen to the girl's words, nothing would harm him. He would, of course, be able to block that arrow. And besides… he was observing the small hands of the female that were holding the archery-set. They were shaking slightly.

He took a few steps forward, towards the armed girl in front of him. Instantly, she let go arrow in her hands. He quickly moved in the opposite direction of the arrow, in attempt to block it. The sharp-pointed stone of the feathery ended stick grazed his black shirt slightly, making a tear in it as result. He showed a very small frown and faced the girl, glaring at her with his dark eyes that had the same color of his ripped attire.

So it has to be this way, is it?

He grabbed the curved, silver dagger with his left hand as he quickly charged, using an insanely fast speed (that is said to be three times _slower_ than his normal one…) to move towards the girl. She fiddled with the arrow bag behind her as she tried to grab one of her arrows, but the boy was too quick for her. In a matter of milliseconds, the distance between the two had shortened from a number of meters to a few centimeters. He raised his dagger, aiming its sharp tip at the girl's defenseless neck, attempting to end her life with one simple rip at her artery.

However, just before he lowered the curved blade from the air to her skin, he made a mistake by having eye-contact with the girl he was about to kill. The glassy jade-green color and the round, widened shape it held. The small amount of tears that were generated to show the feeling of fear and worry…

He couldn't do it.

He jumped off the girl, setting his dagger back on the black belt that was attached to his pants. He quickly ran into the woods, trying to get away from this area… At the same time, he had completely forgotten about the existence of the unconscious brunette, who was still lying on a random tree and who he was supposed to bring back to his master.

END FLASHBACK

He sighed as he remembered the pitiful failure on his mission. Rikuto-sama's orders were to bring back Ogino Chihiro; unharmed and alive, to keep Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi out of the way, for now, and to eliminate anyone else who interference. By his cowardly actions awhile ago, he had already failed to accomplish two of the three orders that were given to him.

He stuck his dagger back unto his belt and stared at the pair of pale, empty hands that he owned. These hands had been bathed in a large quantity of blood, of life and of death. Ever since the day that he had signed the contract with Rikuto-sama, he had lost the ownership of his actions. His innocence and compassion had disappeared. Yet why…. Why isn't he able to kill that one single person? It's just a small, single, human life. No big deal. It was nothing compared to the mass-murdering of gods that he was ordered to do about two years ago.

He sighed. Deep down, he knew the answer perfectly well. Of course he couldn't kill her. How could he? She was the only pleasant memory that he had when he was still living in this world. He just couldn't accept the fact that he still held humane emotions. The emotions that he had thrown away a long time ago when he had accepted the job of being Rikuto-sama's private assassin. He didn't want to believe that those things were actually coming back to him. Those useless feelings were nothing but a burden. They were the cause of all weaknesses and flaws.

He shifted his leg position slightly. Humanity is truly troublesome… sitting in a certain position for a long time actually makes your leg go numb. He growled softly as he stared at a strand of his messy, tussled black hair. It was in a pretty long length now, with its shaggy sides covering his ears and a small part of his face, its uneven ends touching his shoulders slightly, and its long bangs that pretty much covered his whole right eye. That's right, now can he forget? Hair grows in this world.

He sucked in a large, deep breath and let out the same amount. Sitting around and observing his now-growing hair surely wasn't the solution. Someday later he would try and get the brunette again. Hopefully, he wouldn't be as lucky to run into Kohaku and Kazusa again. But, he really didn't have to worry that much. With his skill he would definitely (eventually…) accomplish his mission.

His pitch-black orbs opened and closed slowly and steadily. The intense black color that matched the rest of his attire began to dwindle and fade. And in its position, a very dark and deep violet shade regained its reign over the pale boy's eyes.

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"… And that's what happened."

An almond-shaped eye twitched after Kohaku had heard Kazusa's explanation.

"You… Do you know how dangerous that is?" he lectured, referring to the girl's careless actions on attempting to attack the assassin, "You could have lost your life."

"But I'm fine, aren't I?" Kazusa shot back, showing a very unfitting bright smile for the situation, "And unlike _somebody_, I actually tried to get Chihiro-chan back with all I can do."

Kohaku stared at her, annoyed by her obvious tone. How can she still smile and joke after a life-threatening incident? But still, he knew that she was right. Back there, He hadn't tried to do anything to help Chihiro. It was true that he is in a human body and that his magical powers were probably sealed, prohibiting him from using them. But Kazusa is a human too, and above that she is younger than him and is also a girl. Yet she had the guts to do something like that, even when knowing that it might cause her life.

Speaking of which. Kohaku peered over at his leg. He moved it slightly, checking if it was alright, since he hadn't felt any trace of pain. He raised a brow at the swift movement of his bone. Did it heal already? No… it had never been broken. Then why did it hurt so much before?

"Kohaku-san. Shouldn't we be getting Chihiro-chan home?"' Kazusa said, disrupting the dragon's thoughts. She looked up. The sun was located right in the center of the vast sky; it was already noon, "Her parents might be worried…"

"Yes… we probably should." Kohaku turned to his back to look at the sleeping girl and smiled slightly. She and Kazusa were both unharmed (even though they almost got killed) after an encounter with the assassin, and isn't that a fact worth to celebrate? He closed his eyes and breathed a relieved sigh.

"My, my… Kohaku-san only shows his soft side when matters concern Chihiro-chan, ka?" Kohaku shivered at the breathy whisper that was heard in his ear. He turned back and stared the grinning girl, who was obviously enjoying his reactions to her words. He shot her an irritated look from the corner of his emerald eyes, but judging from her continuous grin, it seemed that Kazusa had no means to stop what she was doing.

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"Rikuto-sama, I am to report today's results."

"Ah, yes. How'd it go?"

"I am terribly sorry to say that I have failed to carry out your orders. I would need more time to accomplish the mission."

"..Tch….. Well then, it can't be helped. Even _you_ should need some time, isn't so? Heh… don't pay your mind on it, dear. You shall have all the time in the world."

"Yes, Rikuto-sama. And… may I voice a humble request?"

"Request? What do you need?"

"A new shirt, please."

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Eige-Chan: And so, it is finished! (the chapter, that is~)

Yubaba: What a lame chapter...

Eige-Chan: -glares and ignores- Anyway~ I was watching 'Kuroshitsuji' (the anime) when I was writing this chapter. Ah~ What a lovely, DARK anime it is~ Full of DARKNESS, with a small bit of humor, and a subtle amount of CHIBIS!!!! AHHHH!!! Me likey~ -uncontrollable laughter-

Kazusa: -blink- Kuroshitsuji...? -shock- Eige-Chan has... has.... moved on to another anime?! -faces corner- She has abandoned Spirited Away...

Eige-Chan: -recovers from uncontrollable laughter- EH? No no no no no~ How can I abandon Spirited Away~? I still think that it is the most WONDERFUL thing ever, of course~ Ahaha~ -nervous laugh-

Kazusa: -stare- ... is that so...?

Eige-Chan: -sweat drop- Of course of course~~ -ahem ahem- Well then~ Please read and review!! Remember, reviews = source of inspiration & motivation for us authors! Besides, for me, who does not have a beta, reviews could really help me improve my storyline/grammar/whatever's-wrong-with-my-story. Haha~ R&R!!


	11. Fate Vacates

Eige-Chan: Whoo! Chapter Eleven is up! (I don't own Spirited Away.)

Readers: Eige-Chan, you took more than a week to update, AGAIN! -points viciously-

Eige-Chan: -hides under bed covers- I'm... I'm sorry...! I guess I'm one of those writers who updates slower... How I wish I can update every once a day... -dreams- But that's sorta impossible since I have issues with writer's block.... -depression-

Chihiro: -grin- Just... try you best! -pats shoulder-

Eige-Chan: -wipes a tear away- -sniffle sniffle- -immediately returns to happy mode-

Kohaku: ...That was... a fast mood change...

Eige-Chan: -smile- Yes of course~! Now I give a great big THANK YOU to the awesome reviewers of the last chapter, **FireGoddess101**, **Anonymous**, and **Pammy** (P.S: Yea, I'll go pick it up tomorrow.)! You people (i.e.: reviewers) are the source of my motivation!! I really appreciate the reviews~ THANKS SO SO MUCH!!! -squeal and scream-  
To the people who fav/alert, thank you very much too! But please review, it's better for me to improve my writing! -smile-

Annnnnd on with the story~!

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**Chapter Eleven: Fate Vacates**

Chihiro's eyes fluttered open as she heard the continuous noise of yelling and talking. She groaned as the bright lighting from a light bulb caught her eye.

"Chihiro? Chihiro, are you alright?"

She blinked slowly as she heard the nervous, worried female voice. The brunette turned her head over to the source of the sound. The first thing she saw was the face of her mother.

"Dear, Chihiro woke up!" her mother said, turning to her back as she yelled. Soon, quick footsteps that were ascending the stairs could be heard. Chihiro watched as her bulky father ran in, followed by an old-looking, white-coated person; who seemingly, was a doctor.

"Chihiro! How are you feeling?!" he asked, clearly concerned.

The brunette stared at her worried parents' faces, then at the smiling doctor. Her half-lidded eyes fully opened as she remained in her lying position. She looked around and recognized the surroundings as her own room. She turned her eyes to the closed window of the room. An orange-red color filled the sky; the sun was already setting… How long had she been sleeping?

"What's going on?" Chihiro asked, earning a couple of blinks from her parents, "Why are both of you in my room? And why is there a doctor?"

"Chihiro, honey… don't you remember anything?" Her mother asked. Chihiro replied with a simple shake of her head. Her father slowly walked over the two and sat down beside his wife on the bedside of his daughter. The two adults flashed each other a look at the reaction of their daughter as the mother started to explain.

"Yesterday, when I came back from grocery shopping…"

FLASHBACK; YESTERDAY

"How do you expect me to calm down in a time like this? My daughter is missing!" Chihiro's mother shouted to the cordless phone in her hands, "She's gone for hours straight!"

Just then, a knock at the door was heard. The furious and worried female stomped over to the front door as she continued to yell at the phone. "You're polices, aren't you? Go find my daugh-" Her voice trailed off as she opened the front door.

A girl with long black hair was what she saw first. The girl had a smile hung on her face and she pointed to her back. The mother followed her finger as her gaze landed on a boy with almond-shaped eyes. The continuous talking voice of the police stopped as she hung the phone up. She eyed the boy, or rather, the unconscious brunette that was carried on the boy's back. Her mature face twitched as she recognized the girl as her daughter.

"Ogino-san…" he black-haired girl said, "We are Chihiro-chan's friends, and we found her in the forest." The mother raised a brow at the suspicious saying. Who would be wandering in the forest to find a person? She would be highly suspecting that the children in front of her did something to her precious daughter, but decided against it after she looked at their _innocent _faces. They are children, after all. What could they possibly do?

The boy carefully lowered Chihiro from his shoulders and into his arms. Walking towards the male child, she held out her arms and received her unconscious daughter.

"Chihiro-chan would be alright, but I think there is still a need to call for a doctor," the black-haired girl grinned, trying reassuring her best-friend's mother.

"... Thank you, then," she said to the children who were about to leave. She watched as the two began to walk away. She couldn't say that she trusted them entirely, but they did bring back her child. The mother twisted her eyebrows at the look of their backs. Something told her that they weren't your typical children. The instinct of a mother? Maybe so.

Anyway, she lowered her gaze to her sleeping daughter in her hands. She smiled at the sleeping face of the girl. Her child is now safe and sound, and that'll be more important than anything, isn't so? She walked back into her blue-roofed house, clicking the cordless phone back into its station on the way to the stairs.

END FLASHBACK

"After then you've been sleeping for a day," her mother concluded, "Anyway, Chihiro, can't you really remember anything?" Chihiro shook her head. _No_.

"What were you doing in the forest?" her father asked soon afterwards.

"I… don't know."

A moment of silence fell over the room after Chihiro's reply.

"…strained and sprained muscles, lost of consciousness for a period of time, all caused by a strong hit in the abdominal area. Internal organs aren't damaged, and no bones were fractured." the doctor murmured, causing the family of three turned their attention on him.

Smiling as he walked over to Chihiro, he gently reassured her parents, "Mr. and Mrs. Ogino, there is no need to worry. She probably forgot what happened because of the impact. For the next few days, it should be better for her to rest. Drink water, and I'll also get some medicine."

"Ah, thanks, Dr." Chihiro's father said, standing up from his daughter's bed frame as he accompanied the doctor out of the room, leaving the two females alone. A momentarily space of silence appeared again, but dissolved very soon after.

"Sweetie…" the mother said, holding Chihiro's hand as she spoke. "Is there anything wrong?" she asked, a worried expression forming on her face, "Did anything happen at school?"

"..No…" Chihiro said, hesitating in her answer. _Anything wrong, huh…_ She wasn't sure if she wanted to let her mother know about her insecure feelings of familiarity and the often occurrence déjà vu. So for now, she would keep them to herself.

"...I see," her mother stood up and walked towards the door. She slowed down her footsteps as she reached the door frame. She turned to face her daughter, "If there is anything on your mind, you can always talk to your mother, okay?" Chihiro nodded. Her mother gave her a small smile as she closed the lighting in the room.

"Now rest, dear. It looks like tomorrow you'll have to be absent from school."

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"You're really going back?" Kazusa asked.

"Hn. There is something I need to make sure of." Kohaku replied.

The two were standing in front of the remains of an abandoned amusement park; the entrance to the spirit world. The sun was about to set, and a warm, orange color filled the sky. The air was humid and wet and the soil-filled ground was packed with moisture.

"What if Chihiro-chan got kidnapped again while you're away?" Kazusa frowned at the thought of having to deal with another of those situations again.

"...Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can," Kohaku gave the girl a small smile. He sighed mentally afterwards. _What if Chihiro got kidnapped again while he's away... huh._ He couldn't really do anything about it even if he was here anyway. Instead of sitting around doing nothing, it would be a better decision to take a small risk. Rather than wasting time in the power-less human body of his, it would be better to try and find a way.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure that who they want isn't Chihiro, but me." Kohaku continued, "They attacked me while I was in the spirit world, so that would make sense." Kazusa froze at the comment. Those words from the sentence triggered her memory as she remembered a conversation she had with the priest a few days ago.

FLASHBACK (please reference chapter 7)

_"_When I was changing his clothes for him, there was a large scar on his chest."

ENDFLASHBACK

'That was the cause of the scar...?' Kazusa thought as a frown appeared on her face.

"Well then, I'll be going." Kohaku said as walked past the mossy statue that was in the middle of the road; right in front of the entrance.

"Be careful!" Kazusa yelled behind his back, "If their target is you, you would probably be attacked again." She watched as the boy turned back to give her an attentive nod and a reassuring grin. Kazusa smiled at the reaction and watched as Kohaku disappeared into the dark tunnel. After staring at the hollow entrance for a couple of seconds, the girl turned away from the brick-red building to return home to the temple.

..................

Kohaku sighed as he reached the exist of the tunnel. He peered out at the waters and greens of the world that he had lived in as long as he could remember. The cooling night breeze blew across his face as he walked towards the small harbor that provides boats for crossing this sea. Shoving a few pieces of gold unto one of the boatman's hands, he stepped into the small, wooden boat and sat down at the only seat. The boat started to depart from its harbor as it waddled and shook on the surface of the ripply water.

"To the train station," he told the frog-faced boatman.

"Young lad, 're you human?" he asked as he rowed, "You came from the portal there but you smell nothin' like it."

"This is just a temporary body," Kohaku said absentmindedly. He eyed the large, luxurious ship that was sailing smoothly. As soon as it stopped at the stone steps of the nearest land, the numerous doors of it flung open as spirits and gods walked, no,_ floated_ out. 'That must be the guests to the bathhouse,' he thought.

"That big boat there," the boatman said as he caught Kohaku staring at it, "Carries those high-n-power spirits to Yubaba sorceress's bathhouse." He let out a little laugh as he saw the spirits on the boat floating off. "Little nobodys like you'nd me ain't got the riches or power to get'n that thing. Right, bud?"

"Hn." Kohaku replied. He tried ignored the fact that he had just been called a nobody and reminded himself that the boatman knew nothing about him being the spirit of the Kohaku river. "Hard to say."

The boatman began to laugh heartily at Kohaku's reply, "Hahaah...! Nice one, lad! ...eheha... You're an interesting boy, aren't ya?" He chuckled as he continued to row. "What's your name?"

"...Haku." Kohaku said softly. He couldn't trust strangers enough to give his real name to them. Although the boatman did seem like a harmless, greedless person. But just to be on the cautious side, since you could never know who a person really is by their appearance.

"Haku? Strange name you got there." the boatman joked, "I'm Hwon. Pleased to meet ya."

And for the rest of the ride, Kohaku listened to Hwon's continuous rambling on how great and luxurious the bathhouse was,and how he wished to visit there someday. Occasionally he would give a small 'Hn.' or 'Sure it is.' as the reply to the overly excited boatman's sentences. But most of the time he would drown himself in his own thoughts.

After a period of time, he finally arrived at the train station. Stepping off the wooden boat and onto the cemented platform, he thanked Hwon for the ride.

"No need to thank me. You paid for it, didn't ya?" he said as he chuckled, "Besides, I don't really get a lot of customers anyway."

The frog-like man rowed away after that, laughing along the way about some joke that probably wasn't funny at all. Kohaku stared at the distant image of Hwon for a second, thinking about what he had just said.

_Besides, I don't really get a lot of customers anyway. _

He raised a brow. That's a strange thing to say when he is a boatman. As far as he knew, boatmen in the spirit world were usually very busy and packed with customers, since the land becomes ocean once the sun sets and boats were the only traveling tool.

The incoming sound of a train cut Kohaku's thoughts off. He stepped back slightly as it began to drive in, splashing seawater onto the platform in its tracks. The brownish orange vehicle stopped in front of Kohaku as he went forward to enter. The electrically powered door opened as a portly man in blue uniform stood in the entrance, this miniature shredder hanging from his neck to his stomach.

"One person, to Swamp Bottom," Kohaku said, holding out a single ticket. **(A/N: Please don't ask me where he got that ticket... XD|||)**

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Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clicking of the single clock that was hung in the room was the only thing that the priest could hear. The old man was sitting on one of the many mats that were laid down on the tatami-covered floors. His eyes were closed, and his concentration was intense. His wrinkly face stayed incredibly still, making no motion whatsoever.

This was his part of his never-changed routine; Daily Meditation. Meditation keeps the spiritual energy within stable and controlled. It keeps the logical and emotional decisions well-balanced. But most importantly, it keep temptations from the _evil side_ away.

It was something essential for people like him. People like him. That category would also include Kazusa and Kohaku, although he wasn't sure if Kohaku meditates or or, since he barely knew him. Kazusa was still slightly immature, in terms of knowledge and presence, for meditation. But someday, she would also be required to perform this act.

Kazusa... Kazusa. She was a nameless infant that he found in a forest at mid-October, ten years ago. He adopted her at once back then, and raised her as his own child (grandchild?). He home-schooled her as a Miko; taught her ancient arts and ancient studies. He gave her a name, attached to the last name of his family; Kawazoe. _Kawazoe Kazusa._

He had told her that she was was the child of a friend of his, and that her parents had died at her birth. That was a completely made-up lie, said to comfort the girl whenever she asks about her family. The priest had no idea who she was, where she was from, or anything about of that sort.

But at that split-moment when he carried her infant-self, he knew _one_ thing about her.

She wasn't the typical person that you could find walking in the street. She wasn't just what she seemed to be. Even her existence was probably not a natural occurrence. But at the same time, she was also an absolutely normal human being. She wasn't like Kohaku, who he was pretty sure, not human.

Her unique presence, her mystical existence. Her unbelievable talent in ancient arts and her spiritual energy. All those elements foretold that she was in for a great adventure, a voyage to the inner world. And it seems like that adventure would be happening soon. Oh, he knew about these things. He could see through them. He _is_ a priest after all; highly spiritual people.

The priest opened his eyes as he heard the distant sound of an opening sliding door.

'That must be Kazusa... She's home,' he thought, 'Well then...' The thin man began to stand up from his sitting position, ending his daily meditation.

'Dinner must be ready!' He thought. The man chuckled at his dependance on the ten-year old girl. The laundry, cleaning, cooking, and all other chores of the temple were done by Kazusa. Ever since she was capable of understanding things, she had took on the job of doing all those tiresome things. Although the priest had offered to help every time, the girl would always use his old age as an excuse for him to go rest, meditate, or take a walk.

'That girl really knows how to take care of an old man, eh.' The priest thought as he existed his room, slipping into his favorite wooden slippers. Smiling as he started to walk towards the dinning room, he began to muse about the possible foods that would be his dinner tonight...

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Kazusa: -smile- We have a new character in this chapter!! -cheers- The frog-faced boatman, Hwon!

Hwon: Please to meet ya, readers! -grin- -suddenly makes peace sign- PEACE TO YA'LL!

Kazusa: -blink- ...

Eige-Chan: -perks up- Ooh yea! Hwon is definitely going to be an offical 'character'~ He's gonna have more appearances in later chapters!!

Hwon: -nose flares- Ooooh! I'm goin' be famous! -runs around laughing-

Eige-Chan: -sweatdrop- AH~ He does seem to have a laughing issue though,... haha...Hn... -ahem- Well then~! Once again, I humbly ask you all to REVIEW, please! If you do review... I'll... I'll... grant you... THIS PICTURE! -holds out picture dramatically-

Kazusa: -looks at picture- -gasps and blushes- This... This is...!

Readers: -intrigued by Kazusa's reaction- What is it! What is it? -tries to look-

Eige-Chan: -snickers and puts away picture- You'll see in the next chapter~ Now REVIEW! (Pleassse~~~ Pretty Pleeease~?)


	12. Fate Dispatches

Eige-Chan: Whoo! Chapter Twelve is up! (I don't own Spirited away.)  
-grin- Well. OH MY GOD I HAVE SIX REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER! Yeay!!! Thanks zillions to **NyaniHenshi**, **SUNEHY**, **FireGoddess101**, **Bokmal14**, **Anonymous**, and **Amorette**!!! Your feedback is greatly appreciated! -laughs like a maniac- -ahem- Well then! Here is the promised picture! -hands a picture to each reviewer-

Readers (Well, Reviewers): -anxiously looks- -blinks- -blushes- -snickers and puts into pocket-

Kohaku: -stare- What... are you people looking at? -snatches picture away from a random reader- -looks- -twiches- -turns to Eige-Chan- Where... did you... get this...?

Eige-Chan: -grin- I took it myself~ With my NEW digital camera!!! -shines camera-

Kohaku: WHO SAYS YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES OF ME AND GIVE IT TO THE READERS?!?! And if they are just normal pictures, it wouldn't be that bad. But this... this... -smashes picture-

Eige-Chan: -sigh- Geez~ There's no need to get mad. It's just a picture of you taking a shower! It's not like you're naked or anyth-... -pauses- Oh. You are naked. Well~ there's lots of steam on the _lower region_... -shrugs- That isn't exposed~!

Kohaku: -blushes in fury and embarrasement-

Eige-Chan: Oh by the way. -looks at picture again- Haku! You have a very nice body~ -winks- -laughs it off- -gets smashed up Kohaku-

******--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter Twelve: Fate Dispatches**

Kazusa sighed softly as she looked at the clock that was hung in the classroom. School should end pretty soon. The teacher's talking and lecturing about biology rang through her ears but not into her mind. The girl was deep in thought and class wasn't exactly suited for her now.

She stared at the empty seat in the middle of the classroom; Kohaku's seat. He had already gone back to the spirit world for quite a lot of days now, and there's still no sign of his return. School affairs would be fine, since she could use one of her random lies to fool the teachers and the priest could always chip in the conversation too, since he knew about the situation perfectly well and would stand on her side, of course.

Kazusa knew that there must be a reason behind all his doings and that Kohaku isn't dumb; he's quite smart, so he wouldn't do anything stupid that would put himself or Chihiro in danger. But she couldn't help but feel worried. In that 'spirit world' of his, nothing could be accounted for. Kohaku, Chihiro, and herself were probably in a fairly tight situation right now. And above all that, Kazusa had a feeling that _something_ was going to happen if he wasn't around Chihiro. That was a bad sign. Really bad. She is a Miko, and institutions from highly spiritual people were usually correct.

Oh god, what's taking him so long? He just needed to 'make sure of something', right? She frowned slightly and sighed as she remembered what he had said before leaving.

"_Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can."_

Yeah right. As soon as he can, and it's almost been a week since he left. Although he had said that the target was most-likely him and not Chihiro, Kazusa still couldn't feel a hundred percent safe about it.

Kazusa started to stare at another empty seat in the room; the one that was beside her. Chihiro had been absent from school since the day that she had almost been kidnapped. Kazusa hadn't seen her either, since the last time that Kohaku had carried her unconscious self back to her mother. She was pretty worried about her too, but it seems that nothing like 'kidnapping' had happened to her yet. She must be resting peacefully in her little blue house.

DIIIIIIIING DOOOOOOOOONG DIIIIIIIIIIIIING DOOOOOOOOONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Alright, class dismissed!"

Oh the joy, class finally ended. Kazusa wiggled out of her seat as she started to pack her bags.

'Maybe I should go see Chihiro-chan,' she thought as she zipped up her black school bag, 'See how she's doing...' And with that thought hanging in her heart, she hurried out of the classroom, leaving the school premises as soon as she can.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm... you're right," Zeniba said, reaching for a teapot so that she can refill her cup of tea, "In your human body, you can't use magic. Neither can you transform into a dragon."

The sound of dishes clinking and clanging could be heard throughout the room as Kaonashi washed them slowly. Kohaku was seated on a chair at the wooden-table set; right before Zeniba. Plates of cakes and cookies were on the table as a single teapot was standing on the edge. The filled cup of tea that was Kohaku's to drink was untouched. His still, calm face frowned at the comment. So his hypothesis was indeed right. He can't use magic.

"Zeniba, do you still remember the boy who gave me this scar?" Kohaku asked, pointing to his chest in the meantime.

"Well yes," the sorceress replied, taking a sip of her tea, "What about that boy?"

"He tried to kidnap Chihiro," he said, earning a small cough from Zeniba as she choked on her tea slightly. He watched as Kaonashi refrained from his dish-washing to hand the witch a piece of tissue.

"Oh dear... is that so?" Zeniba said worriedly, after she got hold of herself, "But I assume that she is alright, isn't she?" The witch asked. Kohaku nodded.

"Without my magic, it is hard to keep Chihiro from harm," Kohaku stated firmly, "I don't know when she might be targeted again... but from my point of view, the people who are attacking us isn't aiming for Chihiro, but for me instead."

"I do not know who they are, or why they are doing this. But if either of us ever gets attacked again, we are now powerless," he continued, "...Zeniba, is there a way that will allow me to use magic?"

Zeniba stayed quiet for awhile, as if absorbing the information that was given. She stood up from the chair and brought her tea cup with her. She walked towards the sink where Kaonashi was and placed the cup at his side, instructing him to wash it. Right after that, she sat back down and constructed a reply to the boy's question.

"There is, of course. But you won't like it." she said, warning him before-handed.

"Please tell me," pleaded Kohaku, with a slight cautionary tone in his words.

Zeniba's enormous brown eyes closed momentarily as she took a bite off a biscuit. Kohaku didn't take his eyes off her. This was slightly strange; the witch was unusually calm with the whole situation.

"Your human body is what is keeping you from using magic. So what we have to do is to," Zeniba said, making a small pause, "destroy it."

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Chihiro was tired. Very tired. She could feel her eyelids starting to drop close again and it was just four o'clock in the afternoon.

She looked into the wide mirror that was hanging on the wall in the bathroom she was in. Her skin was dry and her eyes had red veins going through them. Her overly large shirt that she used as sleepwear was worn out and ruffled. Her dusty brown hair was tied into the same old ponytail with that pretty purple hairband. She frowned. Why did she need to look so hideous?

Chihiro sighed as she walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She began her tiny journey back to her room on the second floor. As she was about to climb up the stairs, her mother walked past her, holding a wet mop and a filled bucket in her hands.

"Ah, Chihiro, you're up?" she asked with a smile, "Does your stomach still hurt?"

Chihiro shook her head twice as a response. Since a few days ago, the muscles at her stomach were still slightly tense and she could hardly sit up probably. But thanks to medicine and resting for days, her abdominal area was healed. That leaves the weird sleepiness that she gets at random periods in the day. Most of her time, she would be resting on the bed, doing nothing but reading and such. Those things shouldn't be tiresome, right? She wondered why that sleepiness was happening, but didn't really pay much mind to it anyway since it wasn't very much her concern.

"That's great isn't it?" her mother commented, her water filled bucket waddling as she spoke, "It looks like you'll be back in school soon."

"Yeah, I guess," replied Chihiro softly.

"Well, hurry up your room and get some more rest, " the woman said, "I'll be cleaning the living room, okay?"

Chihiro nodded and watched as her mother went to the living room. She ascended up the stairs herself and opened the first door to the left; her room. Her skinny legs walked her to the center of the room while her hips supported her small body frame as she slumped on the edge of her single-sized bed. Her bony arms reached behind her head, pulling the purple hairband out from it's ponytail as her brown strands of tresses fell loose.

'It's a little long...' she thought, looking at a strand of her hair that had already reached the middle of her back, 'I need a haircut.'

She slid the shiny, flexible hairband onto her thin wrist, enjoying the feel of comfort as the material touched her skin. She felt secure when the hairband was on her and she liked the feeling. She decided that she would keep that band on her wrist for now.

Chihiro lied down on her bed, reaching for the blankets so that she could be covered from the slightly cold breeze that blew through the window. She blinked slowly as her head made contact with the white, fluffy pillow. She raised her hand up, staring at the glittering hairband that was tied to her wrist. _Pretty._ Her other hand reached in, touching the smooth, purple material.

FLASH

"_No, no, no!__" __she cried, backing away from the boy who was holding her._

"_Open your mouth and eat this," he calmly said, holding out a red, berry-like object, "Unless you eat something from this world, you'll vanish."_

"_No!" she yelled, throwing her hands out to the boy's face, only to see that it completely went through him. _

"_Don't worry. It won't turn you into a pig," he forced the round object into her mouth, "Chew it and swallow." She shut her eyes close as she chewed obediently, swallowing it afterwards before reopening her eyes._

"_Good girl. You're fine now," he said as he held out his palm, "See for yourself." She hesitantly reached out her hand, and with her fingertips, she slowly touched the boy's skin._

"_I'm back again..."she looked into the boy's eyes as he smiled warmly at her._

END FLASH

She gasped. A flash. Again. It was much longer than the first one too. Chihiro twisted her eyebrows at it. Kohaku was in it this time too. And so was she... She frowned as she remembered something that the Kohaku in the flash had said.

"_Unless you eat something from this world, you'll vanish."_

_This world?_ She wondered what that was. Oh, why did a flash happen again anyway? All of this is creepy and unnatural. Is there something wrong with her? Like, a mental problem? Chihiro shivered at the thought. No, this cannot be possible. It must be something like... like an unintentional daydream! Yeah, those weird flashes. It must be... right?

'Ah...!' thought Chihiro as she seemingly remembered something. She sat up on her bed as she reached out for a small package that was on the upper right corner of her desk. She grabbed the thing and brought it towards her face. 'Kazusa's fortune results...'

Chihiro had been afraid to open the brown envelope since the last time she was aware of it's existence. But after having a strange flash with Kohaku in it for the second time, it would be more intimidating if she didn't open it. She started to tell herself repeatedly, _Answers to why she's been having those flashes are in that package! _But just as she was about to rip open the envelope, there was a small sting from the back of her neck, which was followed by a sudden feel of drowsiness. Her fragile figure wobbled and swayed for a couple of seconds. Soon after, she slumped back onto her bed. Her breathing was soothed and calm; she had fallen fast asleep.

..................

He stepped into the window slowly, trying not to alert anyone of his existence in this room. Cautiously, he walked towards the sleeping girl and pulled out the tiny needle that was on the back of her neck; a sleeping dart.

Since a few days ago, he had been stinging the girl with sleeping darts each day. But as much as how her body condition was, she hadn't fallen asleep right away after those darts. Now, her body had finally given in.

He sighed as he stared at the small frame of the sleeping girl. He really can't use brutal forces against her, can he? He should have known that the first time. Rather than giving her a mind-wrecking blow in the stomach, he should have just used sleeping darts. Well, he was used to using violence. So much that he had forgot that his prey was a single human girl rather than hundreds of spirits.

Well anyway, at least he got her. And how lucky is he, both Kohaku and Kazusa weren't around. He wouldn't be wasting time dealing with them again. He reached out to the sleeping girl's shoulders and flipped her body around so that she was facing him. He saw that she was holding something in her hands.

A brown... envelope? ...Or something like that. He couldn't really see since it was crunched up against her hands. Well, it doesn't matter.

He lifted the girl up from her bed and onto the floor as he pulled out a black, folded piece of paper from his pocket. Walking towards the single bedside table that was located right beside her bed, he laid the piece of paper on it. After assuring that it was placed correctly, he resumed to picking up the sleeping brunette. He walked towards the opened window of the room and jumped out swiftly. With the human girl in his arms, he ran into the forest, heading for _his _portal to the spirit world.

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Chihiro's mother hummed as she happily mopped the living room floor. Moving a sofa out of place, she gladly cleaned the opened area. The wet mop splashed against the waxed wooden floors. The blue bucket was seated at the her right hand side and it was filled with water that was no longer clear or clean.

_Knock knock-knock_

She rose a brow. Who could be knocking at their door at this time of the day? Leaning the wet mop on one of the corners of the room, she began walked to the front door. She opened the door and was greeted by a young girl.

"You are...?" She started, staring at the child's long black hair and emerald green eyes. But it was the girl's smile that successfully reminded her that she was the one that had brought her daughter home the other day. The mother smiled her. "Ah, the girl from the other day?"

"Yes," she replied with a grin, "My name is Kawazoe Kazusa."

"Ah, I see, I see," Chihiro's mother leaded Kazusa into the house. "The house is a little messy." she said apologetically.

"No, it's alright. I'm just here to see Chihiro-chan." Kazusa smiled at the woman, "Is she alright?"

"She's much better now," said the mother, "She's upstairs in her room." She told the girl, suggesting that she could go and take a look at her best friend.

"The first door to the left!" Chihiro's mother said. She watched as the girl gave her a nod and a smile as she continued to search for Chihiro's room.

'Chihiro has made a nice friend in school...' She thought happily. The woman soon returned to the living room, continuing her chores on mopping the floor.

..................

Kazusa walked up the stairs slowly, ignoring the creaky sound that the wooden floors made. According to Chihiro's mother, it seems like Chihiro was much better now. She smiled at the fact. At least that makes one person less for her to worry about.

_First door to the left... first door to the left... _She turned to her left side as soon as she reached the end of those stairs. Indeed, there was a door. With a smile on her face, she knocked on it.

"Chihiro-chan? It's Kazusa," she said as she knocked continuously. No response. Kazusa rose a brow.

"Chihiro-chan?" she asked again. Still, no reply. Kazusa pursed her lips slightly. A terrible thought ran across her mind.

'No!' she thought, shaking off the idea that Chihiro might be kidnapped again. 'She's just... sleeping. Just sleeping,' she reassured herself quickly. Grabbing hold of the doorknob with her left hand, she twisted it, making the door open slightly.

"I'm coming in, then..." Kazusa had the door fully opened by now. She looked around the room. Chihiro's room was... normal, like any other girls' room would be. A desk with books and other materials on it, a closet with a body-length mirror standing beside it, a few other cabinets with stuffed toys on it, a bed with... nothing?

The bed. It was empty.

She quickly neared the bed. The blankets were ruffled and folded. And there was no one there. Kazusa bit her lower lip as she felt her heart pounding in a relatively fast speed. It looks like what she was fearing had actually happened... Chihiro was kidn-...

'She might be in the restroom!' Kazusa thought hastily, refusing to believe that something had happened to her best friend. She wasn't going to believe it. Not until she sees some hard, true evidence.

She turned her gaze to the piece of furniture beside the bed. A bedside table... She looked at the alarm clock that was placed on it. It was already 5:46pm. Well, the current time wasn't what had caught her attention the most. It was the small black piece of paper that was placed beside it. She leaned in and picked the material up. She frowned. She had a bad feeling about this.

Kazusa slowly unfolded the piece of paper. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she saw what was in it. Written with crimson-colored ink, those bloody words clearly showed on the black background.

_Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi,_

_Come to us._

_Or this girl will be killed. _

_X_

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END OF CHAPTER!!! Okay. This is usually where I have the little conversations with the characters. But just for this time, I'll have to call it off. I have things to say~

FIRST OF ALL, I have rewritten a tiny part of chapter four (it should be already updated by the time this chapter comes up.) The majority of it will be the same, but it would be better if you'd go take a look. It will have... a small influence on the later chapters! But just a small influence. [7/29/09]

SECONDLY, I have a few questions to ya'll readers!!!

Question 1. Do you find the characters OOC?

Oh dear. That had been bothering me for quite a while. Sometimes I find the (non-OC) characters alittle... different from what they acted like in the original movie. And then I would end up watching 'Spirited Away' for three times or more to try to get into their character. (Oh trust me, I really did watch it three times when I wrote this chapter.) But then I feel like I'm still doing a lousy job at it. What do you think?

Question 2. Do you find my story too descriptive?

Yea. That is an issue too. Looking back at the former chapters that I did, I see alot of... words. Yeah, I tend to have this habit of making my chapters into something like descriptive essays. But the I'm only doing that because I want to let my readers visualize the story better. I like to 'paint a picture' in you readers minds.  
Haha, well. In recent chapters, I've been trying to lessen the descriptive parts and add more dialouge. But sadly, I discovered that I work really bad with dialouge...  
So... what do you think?

Ugh. I talked too much. Haha.... sorry for wasting your time, dear reader! -bow- But I really need the opinions now. So please, read and review, with your opinions too~!


	13. Fate Expedites

Eige-Chan: Chapter thirteen is [finally...] UP!!! (I don't own Spirited Away~)  
OH MY GOODNESS.... I'm so sorry for taking such a long time on this chapter....

Yubaba: -crosses arms- Yeah, you better be sorry. -gangs up Eige-Chan with the readers-

Eige-Chan: Gah.... It's just that school had started.... and the new school system's really freaking annoying... -smashes school- We have like thirty kids squished up in a tiny room where there's no air conditioning... and it's real humid and hot here in Taiwan... Ugh. -smashes school again-

Yubaba: Oh, the excuses! -sticks up nose- You didn't update in time and that would be YOUR fault. Stop trying to blame it on other things!

Eige-Chan: -sigh- Uhuu... Yes, you're right. -bow bow bow- I AM SORRY!!!! -murmur- And I am even more sorry to say that future updates might run even slower....

Readers: -stare- ...What did you just say?

Eige-Chan: -fake-laughs and turns to happy mode- Y-Yes! -ahem- A.N.~  
WHOO YEA! I recieved twelve lovely reviews for the last chapter!!! Oh dear~ I'm overwhelmed!!!! -faints of happiness-  
I thank the reviewers **pika995**, **FireGoddess101**, **Rhonda Petrie**, and **AnimePenguin** (anonymous reviewer)!!!! Thank you guys very much~!

Annnd~! SPECIAL thanks to the reviewers who had answered my questions on the bottom of the page **Nyanihenshi**, **Anonymous**, **dreamweaver64**, **tsuki-yeah**,  
**-oOoHeartOfDarknessoOo**-, and **Future-Little-Mrs.-Teddy-Lupin**!!! Your answers have helped me alot! I give you barrels of thanks!!!!

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**Chapter Thirteen: Fate Expedites **

The first thing Kazusa could think of doing, is to run.

She ran out of Chihiro's room, not even bothering to close the wooden door that she had slammed open. She ran down the squeaking stairs and past her best friend's mother, who was cleaning the floors, completely unknown of the current situation. She ran out of the front door, banging the hard, smooth surface of her school bag on the door frame accidentally as she left.

"Kazusa-san, what's wrong?" Chihiro's mother had yelled after her, "Kazusa-san?"

She didn't answer the woman, she just ran with all she got. Her mind was too occupied with the crimson words that were written in the small, black piece of paper that was in the tight grip of her left hand. Because of that, nothing was present to her now. Not the honking of cars that were directed at her as she carelessly ran into the middle of the street, not the pain that originated from her scraped knee as she tripped upon a rock, and not the fact that she had dropped one of her black school-shoes as she stood up from that trip. Her clouded, widened eyes just stared emptily into space as she ran violently.

Kazusa arrived at the place she called home; the temple that she had spent her whole life in. But her footsteps didn't stop as she reached the front entrance. She continued to run into the depths of this architecture, into the last room of the fourth building; her room. She kicked off the only shoe that was present on her foot, and shut the paper-made sliding room close as she entered. She dropped her bag on the tatami-floors subconsciously as she allowed her body collapsed onto one of the purple-colored mats on the floor.

Her bubbly, slightly watery eyes blinked not once in the moment. Her emerald-black, jittery pupils twitched in worry and fear. Her opened mouth panted slightly as she tightened the grip on the black piece of paper that was held in her hands.

'What am I going to do...?' the girl thought, her small body shaking slightly as she considered that threatening message, 'Chihiro-chan...!'

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Kohaku showed no particular facial expression at the statement that was just mentioned to him. Destroy it... huh? Certainly, if it was the human body he was in that kept him from using magical powers, all that was needed was to remove himself out of that body. But what was questioning him was the fact that Zeniba had said that she was to 'destroy' his human body rather than to 'remove' it from him. What was that supposed to mean? He looked into the witch's extremely large eyes as he continued comprehend what she just said.

Destroy. The meaning of the word is to eliminate the existence of a something, to erase it from the world. Kohaku mentally rose a brow. Why would Zeniba bother to destroy his human body when she could just remove it from him? It would be much more convenient, really; because if she is to destroy his body, wouldn't she have to give him one more later? What a waste of spells if that was to happen. Rather than using a human-transformation spell on him again, wouldn't it be more efficient if she was to grant the gift of touring the human world to another spirit wh-

Whoa, whoa, _whoa_. Rewind. And hold it right there.

It hit the musing dragon boy as he understood the current proposal that the sorceress was giving him. Zeniba said that she would destroy his human body because there isn't any other way that would allow the body to be separated from him (at least not until the three years of time limit is over). That means, removal isn't an option. And... she can't give him another human body afterwards either; human-transformation spells could only be used once for each spirit. Only one human body can be made for each spirit. And that only human body of his was to be destroyed... He twitched and frowned as he realized what that meant.

What Zeniba was trying telling him was: If he wanted his magic, he will have to give up his human body. In other words: If he wanted to be strong and protect the people he loved, he would have to give up on any chance of ever entering the human world ever again. He would be separated from that world... from Chihiro, forever. He showed a mixed expression that was between a frown and a smirk. _Life is cruel, isn't it._

"I won't force you," Zeniba said, after she was sure that Kohaku had caught on to what she meant by 'destroying', "You decide whether you want it or not." The woman resumed to enjoying her tea and pastries at this point. She peered over the boy's head, at the clock that was hung on the farthest end of this room. The current time was 6:48pm. She should be preparing dinner soon.

"Okay then," replied Kohaku in a quite bluntly in a matter of seconds later, "I'll take it."

"...Oh?" Zeniba smiled a twisted smile as she took a bite from the biscuit in her hands, "I had previously assumed that you would at least think about it for a few days." She spoke with an amused tone.

"My decision will remain the same even if I did," Kohaku said flatly. He watched as Zeniba chuckled at his answer and drowned himself back into his own thoughts.

_Is this really alright?_ A part of him was asking. _If you do that, you might never be able to see her again. _Yes, he was very aware of that. But still, rather than letting his own selfish wishes and wants to take control of his mind, it would be a better thing for him to rely on rational decisions for this choice. It was perfectly clear to him that he will loose the chance of ever seeing her again, but it's all worth it if he could keep her from any possible source of harm. Her life and safety comes before his desires, so even if it was against his will, this is the best choice.

"Speaking of which, the demolishing of your body is very different from the human-transformation spell." Zeniba said, snapping Kohaku from his thoughts and back into reality, "With my level of magic, I am unable to make it painless. So it will hurt. _Very much_." She emphasized the last couple of words to make her point.

And that was about the time when Kaonashi had finished his washing with the dishes. The no-faced spirit headed towards a corner in the room and sat down on a small stool. He grabbed a cloth-made bag that was sitting on the ground and pulled out a piece of half-finished material. He then silently started to knit.

Kohaku blinked as he watched the black creature skillfully loop strands yarn through one hole and another. _Oh?_ He didn't know that Kaonashi could knit.

"That's fine with me..." Kohaku answered Zeniba absentmindedly.

"Just thought I'd tell you first," the old witch crackled softly as she saw that the boy wasn't listening. Well, he'll feel the pain later when the destroying of his body starts.

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A silent hall, is where this place is. This place is connected to a variety of other places. Other rooms and other corridors, to be more exact. This place exists in a place which is unknown to almost all of the inhabitants of this universe; except for a very few. In the farthest end of the farthest room, there lives a quite important and very powerful person. He lives not alone. There are people who live with him, but none of them are present in the moment. And that is only one of the many reasons of why this empty hall is silent.

Right in the middle of the end of this hall, there stood a staircase. A large, wide, grand staircase. It was made out of a material that didn't seem to exist in our world, and its strange color didn't seem too inviting as well. It was long. Very long. And at the top of that long, strange staircase, there stood a door. A closed door. It was locked, and no one except for the most important and powerful person who lives in the farthest end of the farthest room, could enter it.

With that staircase included, the scenery of this space is simply magnificent. The centerpiece was most-likely the enormous, crystal clear, cyan-silver chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling, for it was the most eye-catching piece in this large room. But that chandelier wasn't the source of light , since it wasn't lit. The source of light were the neat rows of white candles, which emitted a small, orange glow from the black walls where they were hanging. Their soft reflection showed on the glossy, patterned, marble floors which owned lovely shades of jade and dark emerald. And with that, everything was completed with the many golden pillars that were standing in an equal distance at the sides.

A number of strange, _square_ holes were present in this hall. They would leave anyone who saw them in a questioning status. Some of them were portals to other worlds. Some were just normal exists/entrances that connected to the other rooms in this building. They were mostly on the left side of the hall, but some were also in the right. They were pitch-black, and if it wasn't for the golden paint that was bordering them, they would have blended right in with the walls.

_Swish. _

One of the few holes on the right side started to shine with a light glow, making a howling sound as well. A boy in black attire slowly emerged. His tousled hair covered a third of his face, showing only one of his dull, violet eyes that carried no expression. In his arms, lied a sleeping human girl, who is completely unaware of what had happened to her. The boy began to step away from the portal and towards the center of the hall, his footsteps silent on the marble floors and making no sound in this hollow room. The coldness of this area chilled his very soul. His dreary eyes glanced from left to right, its dark color capturing the scenes before him.

A sudden movement from the brunette he was carrying caused the boy to flinch slightly, until he realized that she was still asleep. He blinked slowly as he began walk towards one of the square holes on the left walls. The one that he picked wasn't a portal. It was just a normal entrance to a room; the farthest end of the farthest room. Staring at the pitch-black hole for a couple of seconds, he stepped forward into the oozing darkness. Leaving this silent hall empty once again, his form disappeared into the dark intensity.

..................

A knock on his door was heard.

"Come in," a deep, male voice said softly.

The large, rectangular-shaped door creaked open slowly as a boy stepped into the room. With the human girl no-longer carried in his arms but draped over one of his shoulders, he became capable of using the functions of his hands. Gently closing the door behind him, he began to near the ends of the room, stopping before the chair that his master was seated on.

This room was furnished with similar structures from the hall a while ago; without the staircase, that is. The only different part were it's color palettes. Unlike the rich colors of jades and golds of the hall, it was entire covered with gloomy shades of blacks and grays with occasional tints of dark blues.

The marble floors showed no reflection and there was only one source of light here; from the rounded moon that can be seem from the floor-height windows in the sides. Black drapes were present everywhere and a tall, ponderous-looking chair was the only piece of furniture. It had complicated carvings and strange colors, and on it, there sat his master.

"Rikuto-sama..." he said, showing a polite, perfectly-positioned bow. Remaining in that position for just couple of seconds, he began to gradually raised his head up.

The first thing he saw were the piercing, bright yellow eyes of his master that just seemed to add to the creepy atmosphere of this room. Those half-lidded orbs would promise a month of continuous nightmares to anyone who made direct eye-contact with them. But of course, he was already used to those frightening eyes, since he had lived with them for quite a number of years. He would make it through perfectly fine without the nightmares.

Rikuto had white, milky hair. Like of a pure, innocent angel's. And it was incredibly unfitting for his despicable behaviors, but matched fairly well with his pale skin and golden eyes. Those ivory strands of hair were long. Way too long even for a woman's hair length, let alone for a man. Its silky surface would drape across his wide shoulders gracefully. Its ends would sprawl across the floor when he was sitting, and its sparse amount of bangs would run through half of his face and down his chin without covering those terrifying orbs.

His master, Rikuto-sama, is a man with extreme beauty.

"Welcome home," Rikuto said, his pale lips curling up to a sly little smile as he spoke. Putting an elbow on the arm of his chair, the man lazily rested his head on his hand. His snake-like eyes stared the sleeping girl on his assassin's shoulders. "I see you have succeeded."

"Yes, Rikuto-sama," he said with formality, " I apo-..." The boy was just about to make another statement, but paused as he realized the unfamiliar aura that his master was giving off. He looked up into the man's bright yellow eyes. Something about their fluttering presence gave him a chill down the back of his spine. And how many years has that been since he had last been intimidated by his own master?

"Is something wrong, Rikuto-sama?" he asked.

Rikuto showed nothing but a casual smile as he played with a strand of his hair. "...We're out of wine," he said slowly, "I haven't had a drop of alcohol since a last week..."

He held in a sigh. His master isn't answering his question. Well, at least now he had established the fact that their stock of wine had finally ran out after all these years. That's what you get for drinking continuously for years without getting new bottles in an annual period of time.

"I will certainly purchase wine in a moment," the boy said, " After I-"

"I'm home!" a lady's voice cried from a distance, cutting the boy off his sentences.

He twitched at the sound of those words. His purple orbs showed a small intention to glare, for this person had just interrupted him sentence. But the expression soon died away as he recognized the owner of that voice.

Rikuto smirked.

Footsteps of that voice's owner echoed throughout the room. Her heeled boots clicked loudly as she walked on the marble floors and towards the two males. The moon started to light up her shadowed figure as her appearance was slowly shown.

First to sight, were her long, slim legs. With shiny leather boots and black stockings that covered o-nly half of her fully exposed thigh, it was pretty much obvious that she was a great beauty. Her matured, seductive body had stunning curves all in places where they were supposed to be. The laced and leather corset she wore was fitting her perfectly; although to most people it would seem as if it was suffocating her. Frizzy, crimson-black hair famed her small face as eyes of the same color stared in focus. Putting a slender gloved hand on her hips, luscious red lips smiled devilishly.

"Miss me?" she asked teasingly.

He felt retch already. His disgusted stare poured right out from the violet eyes he had. And he didn't even bother to hide it.

"Both of my most trusted people have returned today at the same time, huh..." Rikuto said with a smirk, his bright yellow orbs flaring and flickering with an intimidating excitement as he eyed the woman before him, "...Good to see that you're back, Betty."

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Kazusa was standing in front of a mirror, smoothing out the red-and-white traditional suit that she had changed into. Compared to the school uniform, this was definitely much more comfortable. She looked in the mirror and at her reflected self. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was as pale as snow, and her body was still shaking slightly. A weak smile formed on her mouth as she tightened the cloth that was tied to her waist.

It had taken the girl about five or six hours to calm down from the fact that Chihiro had been taken away. She had locked herself up in her room and had either been crying or just staring into blank space during those hours. Fortunately, she had a pretty strong mind for a human, so she hadn't had a mental breakdown just yet. And after comforting herself with soothing words and silent promises, she had learned to look into the bright side of this situation. If there is any, that is.

Breathing out a sigh, Kazusa stepped away from the body-length mirror as she neared the few wooden cabinets that were present in this room. She pulled on a large drawer at the tallest, most aged one. She grabbed the only thing that was in it; an ancient looking, very worn-out, beige bag. Flipping it inside-out, she aired the stuffy bag, which didn't seemed like it has been outside of that drawer since the last century. She flung her hands at the dust that escaped the beige material and successfully avoided it.

'Food...water...a change of clothes...' she counted mentally, grabbing those objects as she stuffed them into the bag. Reaching out for a small pot in the farthest corner of the room, she placed the dusty jar before her. She handled a thick piece of wood in her hands (which was possibly detached from the windows) and smashed it towards the pot quickly. The old jar blasted into smithereens as the cracked opening revealed a few pieces of shining gems and jewels. She carefully placed them into a smaller, wooden container, then into the large beige bag.

'...Might be good for bribery...' she thought with a cunning tone.

After then, she collected some other small, nick-knacks and placed them in her bag. Securing the old-fashioned buttons on the backpack, she smoothed the ruffly surface slowly and gently. A small, nervous expression escaped her jittery eyes. That emotion was shaken off immediately as the determined ones replaced them. She stood up, and neared the door.

_Click. _

The girl shut off the switches of the lights in the room as she equipped the backpack on her shoulder; on the red-and-white suit she wore. Quietly sliding the paper door open, she slipped into her straw-made slippers with slender feet dressed in pure white socks. She kicked into her shoes as she raised her head up at the pitch-black sky. Kazusa's emerald orbs were still and silent. Her expression was significantly calm, but also carried a hint of discomfort and doubt.

She took her eyes off the star-less sky as she then focused on the unlighted stone-road of the temple. Walking carefully so that she wouldn't trip over anything in this dark space, the girl's footsteps gradually quicken as she reached the exist. Taking a glance at the shadowed figure of the architect that she had lived in forever, her stomach started to churn slightly. She winced as she forced herself to turn around and walk away from the building. She knew she wasn't going to back off. Her best friend's life was in grave danger. There was no way that she would sit quietly and wait for help.

'I'm leaving...' Kazusa thought bitterly as her favorite forest came into sight while she walked across the pavement and towards the soft, moist soil.

'...and,' She reached out into her pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of charcoal-black paper. As she walked fluently through trees and bushes that occupied the woods, she flipped the dark material open. Reading the crimson words over again, her mind twisted and turned as she thought about all the possible things that could be happening. The girl's eyes tensed as new thoughts flowed through her mind, '...I might not be coming back ever again.'

Kazusa stopped her footsteps as she reached her destination. Under the glowing, clear moon, a mossy-green statue faced her with an eerie smile. She looked up at the grand sight behind that stone statue and stared with a deep, thinking look. Dusty red bricks with overgrows covering some areas of this abandoned theme park... The sign board with golden paint that was slowly wearing off... A dark, empty entrance that was in the neat shape of a half-oval...

She tightened her grip on shoulder-rests of the beige bag on her back as she went forward to the tunnel. A chilling breeze blew across her body and into the hollow entrance, making a creepy, howling sound. She looked into the pitch-black space and shut her eyes as she heard a soft whisper of the wind.

_Here goes._

And without a second thought, the girl stepped forward, and crossed between worlds.

.................

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The priest breathed out a small sigh as he shot opened his eyes, ending his meditation. He felt something... Or rather, he felt that that something wasn't where it was supposed to be anymore. Something had disappeared. To be more exact, s_omeone _has disappeared.

His wrinkled face stayed motionless as he remained in the sitting position for several more seconds. A gentle breeze blew into the room from the paper window that he had left open. Feeling the smooth wind on his face, a certian ideal clicked off in his mind.

He smiled subtly in realization.  
_...The journey has begun... _

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Eige-Chan: Whoo! New character again! A GIRL, this time!!!! -hyper laughs-

Lin: -reads chapter- You know, you have to stop making new characters. You're not even using the ones in the original movie! Like ME! I'm a critical character!!

Kamajii: -murmurs- I don't see any of my appearances anywhere in this story either...

Boh: -sucks on thumb- Whatta 'bout meee?

Soot Balls: -squeaks violently in disapproval-

Eige-Chan: Hey, hey, hey! You guys come in later in the story, alright? -grin- I'll use ya'll later... not now, later. Be patient would you? -sigh- Geez...

Oh well~! This is the end of the chapter!!! REVIEW! And tell me if you liked it or not~! -smile- And if there is anything wrong (such as spelling, grammar, etc.) please do not hesitate to tell me!!!  
Alright then! See you in the next chapter!! (which, hopefully, would be soon....)


	14. Fate Races

Eige-Chan: Chapter Fourteen is EXTREMELY LATE, and finally up!

Hwon: Whoa, girl. You owe the readers big time...

Eige-Chan: ...Ughhh, I know... How many days has pasted since I last uploaded?

Hwon: Three months, little lady... -frowns- Now that's some long time.

Eige-Chan: -freaks out- OH DEAR.... I'm SO SORRRY. For taking such an unreasonable length of time... for this short (too short for three months) chapter... I'll explain at the end of the chapter about everything... so...

Thanks to the reviewers first!!!!  
Wow... So many reviews!!!  
Thanks to...: **dreamweaver64**, **Future-Little-Mrs.-Teddy-Lupin**, **Rhonda Petrie**, **bdstar4**, **NyaniHenshi**, **pika995**, **JuniorsObligatory**, **I Anonymous**, **Kaiko Aozora**, **Roojay**, **White Rosary**, and **Evian123**!!!  
I appreciate these reviews very much, and to the readers, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!!!

Hwon: Uhh... -points to mob of angry readers- I think you might wanna start the story maybe?

Eige-Chan: -looks- Ooh right... I better shut up now...

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Chapter Fourteen: Fate Races

Hwon lied lazily on his little wooden boat that was moored to the harbor and that was floating steadily on the waters. His short, frog-like arms crossed in a rather stubborn way in front of his chest. Spitting the piece of leaf that he had chewed on for quite a while, he sat up as the boat-surface below him wobbled slightly. His bulgy, half-closed eyes drifted from the view of his own feet to the source of noise and commotion that was occurring on the other sides of this harbor.

'Ahhah....' he sighed mentally as he caught view of all the other boatmen who were busy dealing with the loads of customers pouring towards them, 'Another day like this, huh.' He chuckled slightly as he compared those mountains of spirit-customers to the few couples of customers that he had received today. My, he really didn't get many people who'd take a ride on his little float. Not that his boat was particularly shaggy or anything... Rather curious, isn't it?

'Business is really getting off these days, eh?' he thought as he scratched his head slowly.

"Eeh?! Back off, you disgusting human!"

Hwon raised a brow as he heard the distant yell from one of the other boatmen in this harbor. The mention of a human sent many other bystanders running towards the source of that shout. Including Hwon himself.

'Oh, my, my, my...' he thought while he watched the commotion rustle up as the human girl who started this gathering spoke up.

"Please," the girl said almost pleadingly, her green eyes clinging to her focus, "I don't mean any harm, I just needed to know if a-... " The boatman pushed her down to the ground before she could finish her sentence. Hwon watched sympathetically as the young girl landed on the rocky floors with a small yelp.

"Learn your place, girl!" the portly boatman shouted at her as he began to walk away from this clearing and back to his business, "Go back to where your_ kind _is!"

Hwon winced slightly at that sentence. With a fluttering gaze and a churned up stomach, he, and all the other surrounding beings silently watched the human girl. She remained in that position for quite a couple of seconds.

The crowds of whispering and murmuring spirits began to dwindle away at that point, assuming that nothing interesting or worth-while-watching is going to happen anymore. As the interest on this female human gradually faded away, she stood up from her fall, smoothing out her dress as she did so. Her downcast expression inked into Hwon's mind as she made her decision to leave this harbor. As she slowly limp-walked away from this unwelcoming ship-coast, Hwon found himself calling out to the girl with a slight mention of hesitance.

"O-Oy!" he said with a hand held out. The girl turned to face him at the mention. Hwon stiffened. 'What am I doing?'he thought with a rather panicked tone.

"You...You said you needed to know something?" he blurted out quickly, remembering what that girl had said to the other boatman awhile ago. The human female brightened up at that statement. She hurried next to Hwon immediately, her beige bag swaying and slumping against her back. Hwon scrunched up his nose slightly at the reek of the human world that the girl carried.

"Have you seen a boy, about the age of twelve coming across this harbor several days ago?" she asked quickly, squeezing as near as she could into Hwon's face, in result of scaring the poor man as he back away slightly.

"Green eyes and dark hair framing his face," she said, gesturing towards her hair color, "And about this tall." She put a hand above her head to show the height of the person she was meant to find. "Perhaps wearing a, erm... white and blue outfit?"

Hwon looked rather dumbfolded at first, having a human girl explain traits of some weird fellow she was looking for. Then, soon afterwards, he began to absorb all the speedily spoken words into the tiny brain of his. As he reviewed the newly found information slowly, the uneasy look of anxiousness that originated from the twinkling orbs of the human girl made him felt strangely insecure.

_Eh?_

Hwon's eye twitched for a small while. His eyebrows twisted and frowned as he somewhat felt familiar with this person in the human girl's description.

"Do you want money?" the girl suddenly said. Hwon snapped from his thinking at the unexpected statement.

"Money, is it..?" she repeated softly as she shook off her bag from her shoulders and dug her hand in, seemly searching for something in that old beige thing, "Although I do not have gold... but I do own a few jewels..." She shook out a small wooden box, "If this is enough for you to tell me what you know then...-"

"Ohh...! Hold it there, little lady," Hwon put his palm out to the box, rejecting it's arrival, "I- I don't need money.... I was just... thinking," He stiffled a small nervous laugh as the girl gradually retreated the gem-filled container.

Then it snapped.

Hwon glanced at the childish face of this reeking human and pursed his lips slightly. He once again thought through all those descriptive traits that she had mentioned about this boy and fiddled with his hands. 'No wonder that felt so familiar.' he thought.

"Em..." Hwon murmured, pleasantly surprised at how calm and welcoming his voice sounded, "This boy you're looking for... is he... 'Haku'?"

* * *

"...Good to see that you're back, Betty," Rikuto said with a small smile.

"Dear Master..." Betty smirked as she stepped gracefully towards the man's chair, her figure brushing past the boy with a human girl on his shoulders. She ignored the sharp look that the assassin was giving her and demolished his existence in her mind. Arriving upon Rikuto's tall chair, she swept an arm around his neck seductively. "You can still say such a thing after you have sent me away for such a hard, hard mission..."

"That just means I trust you," Rikuto whispered.

"Is that so...?" Betty leaned closer to her master, just in time to catch a small breath that the man had breathed into her ear. She giggled with satisfaction.

Betty is not an assassin; that was a sure thing. But what she exactly was, would be unknown to anyone alive, except for maybe Rikuto-sama. Betty is a person who runs certain, _special_ errands. He didn't know if there was a name for what she did, but she was the only person that he knew who carried this job.  
For the past few months, she had been away from here. He had no idea where she had been, but judging by her smell of unfamiliarity, he was pretty much convinced that it wasn't of this world. As far as he could remember, her mission was something about retrieving a part of some being... But he didn't really bother to refresh that piece of memory, since it wasn't any of his concern.

"Master..." Betty cooed as the man swept her up from her behinds and laid her down on his lap. Snaking an arm across the woman's slender waist, Rikuto earned a throaty giggle from her. Betty smirked as she held onto her master's neck with her arms, lying in the embrace of his body.

_Yuck. _The boy cleared his throat slightly to remind the two of his existence.

There is also one thing that is made perfectly clear to him. He very much appreciated and respected her wonderful skills and talent on performing Rikuto's mission excellently. But he hated her, as a person. He simply despised her.

"Hmm?" Betty murmured as she heard the clearing of a throat. Turning her gaze from Rikuto to the boy before them, she faked a surprised look. "Oh! Kaoru-chan, you're here?"

"Don't call me Kaoru-_chan_," he said, glaring at her.

"Now, Betty. Kaoru is just back from a mission," Rikuto said, "Be nice to him."

Betty groaned as she stepped up from her master's lap and down unto the floor. Leaning beside Rikuto's chair and playing with a strand of his hair, she sent a quick, piercing look to the twelve year old boy in front of her. But soon, probably because of the equally sharp glare Kaoru was giving her, she softened up her expressions and let out a smile.

"Who's that?" Betty asked bluntly, referring to the lump of human stink on the boy's shoulders, "Your girlfriend, Kaoru?" The woman snickered as she got the ideal reaction from the assassin; a nice, sharp glare.

"That's bait, dear," Rikuto said softly as he revived from his own chuckle.

"Bait?" Betty commented curiously, stepping down from her master's chair and towards the younger boy. She twirled around the child swiftly and landed in a quite neat way on her leather high-heels, right next to the dead-look-alike girl laying unconsciously on Kaoru's shoulder.

"Bait for what?" Betty asked again as she inspected the human carefully, flipping a strand of brown hair here and there to check out what she looked like. That action didn't last long though, since was soon stopped by a purple glare coming her way.

"For the Kohaku river's spirit, of course," Rikuto replied with a dim smile, admiring the scene of silent quarrel between his two subordinates.

"What!?" came the quick, shrilly scream that echoed throughout the room. Betty's brows furrowed slightly, her metal heels clicking loudly on the metal floors as she performed a small stomp. "The Kohaku river's spirit?! That important project that you have planning like ever since the river died?" Betty stepped forward slightly, her hand on her hip and her frizzy black hair jumping as she walked. "And you let _him_ do it?"

Kaoru's brow twitched slightly as he heard the mention of himself, which was also clearly put down by Betty. He would have already charged at the woman if it wasn't for the fact that he had a hostage in his hands, that Rikuto-sama was present at the moment, and that he wasn't feeling exactly well in terms of physical strength.

"If I had did it, a bait wouldn't even be needed, isn't so?" Betty argued in dissatisfaction.

"You are correct in many ways, Betty," said Rikuto, who stared into the woman's crimson orbs subtly; smiling almost lovingly as he did so, "But you were away when the time was right... "

"But still~!" the grown woman wined in an unfitting tone of childishness as she waltzed back to where her master was seated. Leaning on Rikuto's broad shoulders, she purred softly. The scene reminded Kaoru of a lion begging for meat from an animal keeper.

"Besides," the letters gracefully soothed out of Rikuto's mouth as he talked, "If you had done it... wouldn't the most vital dragon ingredient be shredded into some million bits? I'd like him back in one piece, you know..."

"I can do it cleanly too..." Betty responded, pausing for a couple of seconds before she spoke again, "Well... I can try."

"But aren't you forgetting something, dear Betty?"

"Hn..?"

"It's the _human world_ where that dragon is in right now."

Betty's expression froze for a second there, but soon defrosted itself back to the normal, cunning little smile she always had on. "Ah. Now that makes sense... of why you had to send Kaoru, of all people, to do it."

If Kaoru was feeling any different right now then what he did awhile ago, he didn't show it on his face. But as you would look closely, sweat could be visible at the sides of his pale skin. It couldn't be the weather, since this place is most-likely more cold than hot. Although it wasn't exactly obvious, his normally-clear violet eyes were hazy, and clouded with a somewhat a dark, thin, layer of black.

The words that came out of Rikuto-sama's mouth were unusually hypnotizing today, particularly when he conversed with Betty. And there was that abnormal glint in the man's yellow eyes... Kaoru grimaced slightly, more sweat trickling down his face.

"Kaoru...," Rikuto thundered suddenly, his soft, mellow voice morphing into a solid melody, "You're in charge of the girl."

"Y-Yes, Rikuto-sama." Kaoru said, managing to form a quick reply and a deep bow without falling apart. Cold liquid was overflowing now. He could feel the blood pump inside of his body, the muscles expanding out and back in, the heart beating slowly and steadily. From the corner of his black-hazed eye, he could almost see Betty smirk, her double crimson slits sharper than the crystal blade on his belt.

* * *

Eige-Chan: Alrighty! End of chapter!

Kaoru: -glare- After all these nameless appearances...Why do I have such a lame name?

Eige-Chan: -ahem- Dear boy, I have no time to deal with you. I have things to explain.

Kaoru: ... -takes out dagger-

Eige-Chan: Okay... So... for the reasons of my screwed up updating-date. I could write ten pages on that, but I'll just keep it simple...

1. School Work - Ughhh. 8th grade was tough. Projects, homework, tests, and more projects... I barely have time to sleep...  
2. Competition - Oh yes. I'm entering a (Chinese) novel-writing contest here in Taiwan (120,000 words...). And since my chinese isn't as good as english, I would have to work extra hard on this. That's one of the main reasons why I would be taking a long time for updates... and so in the future, my updates would be taking... pretty long. -gets hit by a truck-

You know what? After a long, tiring day at school, nothing beats the feeling of opening your e-mail to find a Review Alert from FanFiction.  
Haha, Thank you guys, and please read and review!!!!!


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